Homogeneously bright, flexible and foldable lighting devices with functionalised graphene electrodes

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel use of FeCl3-intercalated graphene electrodes to significantly enhance brightness and uniformity in flexible electroluminescent lighting devices, enabling larger, more resilient panels.

Contribution

The study introduces highly conductive FeCl3-intercalated graphene electrodes that improve brightness and uniformity in flexible electroluminescent devices, surpassing previous electrode materials.

Findings

Brightness increased by 49% with intercalated graphene.

Brightness gradients are eliminated in high aspect ratio devices.

Devices remain resilient under repeated flexural strains.

Abstract

Alternating current electroluminescent technology allows the fabrication of large area, flat and flexible lights. Presently the maximum size of a continuous panel is limited by the high resistivity of available transparent electrode materials causing a visible gradient of brightness. Here, we demonstrate that the use of the best known transparent conductor FeCl$_{3}$-intercalated few-layer graphene boosts the brightness of electroluminescent devices by 49$\%$ compared to pristine graphene. Intensity gradients observed for high aspect ratio devices are undetectable when using these highly conductive electrodes. Flat lights on polymer substrates are found to be resilient to repeated and flexural strains.