Imagine being able to dip a brush into a bucket or spray a wall with paint and have an instant OLED screen or solar panel. The term “far-fetched” comes to mind, but according to Mitsubishi Chemical and Sumitomo Chemical, this is a very real possibility. The companies are currently working together on two different versions of a “molecular soup” that can be applied to a surface and dried to a thickness of 100nm—creating either a solar cell or OLED screen in the process.
Plus, the solar charging properties of the compounds means that there would be no need for a traditional power source. When applied to a surface, the OLED screen could run under the power that it generates for an indefinite amount of time. It could even be applied to the back of mobile phones to provide a constant charge. Again, this sort of technology seems seriously out there, but the researchers believe that they can have a working prototype up and running within two years. I’ll believe it when I see it. [Tech Radar via OLED-info]