Japanese innovative materials company TSK Corporation (hereinafter referred to as TSK) recently announced that it has officially started a collaboration with Samsung Display, and the two parties will work together to develop next-generation blue OLED display materials.
The core of this collaboration lies in using TSK's proprietary iron catalyst technology to replace traditional rare metals in order to solve the resource and environmental problems in OLED material synthesis.
It is understood that in the field of OLED display technology, red and green light materials have long achieved high-efficiency phosphorescence, but blue OLED materials have always been the biggest bottleneck restricting the industry's development. In current commercial OLED screens, blue sub-pixels mostly use fluorescent materials, whose luminous efficiency and lifespan are far lower than those of red and green light. This not only increases the overall power consumption of the screen but also limits the further improvement of panel lifespan.
In the traditional synthesis of OLED materials, palladium catalysts have always played a crucial role. However, palladium is a rare and precious metal, with its main production areas concentrated in Russia and South Africa. This not only results in high procurement costs but also makes the supply chain highly susceptible to geopolitical influences, leading to instability. Furthermore, the refining process of palladium is accompanied by severe environmental pollution.
TSK's solution to this problem is to use iron, an element widely found in nature, to replace palladium. TSK has developed a unique, environmentally friendly chemical process that uses iron as a catalyst. This process not only significantly simplifies the reaction steps but also enables the construction of novel molecular structures that are difficult to synthesize using traditional palladium catalysts.
TSK has successfully synthesized an original compound that is expected to become a key structural component of organic electroluminescent (EL) materials. Preliminary evaluations indicate that its performance surpasses existing similar products, demonstrating significant commercial potential.
Through this joint development, TSK and Samsung Display will work together to achieve high efficiency and long lifespan for blue OLEDs. The two companies will strengthen the research and development of compounds based on iron catalysts and explore and screen the optimal material formulation.
Currently, the technological cooperation between the two parties has yielded initial results. A related research paper, co-authored by TSK, Samsung Display, and professors from renowned South Korean universities, has been published in the internationally renowned academic journal *Communications Materials*.
According to available information, TSK is an innovative company focused on developing cutting-edge functional materials, possessing a unique iron catalyst chemical synthesis process. As a startup deeply rooted in fundamental materials science, TSK is committed to solving sustainable development issues in industrial production through chemical methods.
Samsung Display has been actively developing next-generation blue OLED technology in recent years, aiming to push the efficiency of blue materials to their theoretical limits by introducing technologies such as phosphorescent (PHOLED) or thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). As IT products (such as laptops and tablets) accelerate their transition to OLED screens, the market demand for low-power, long-life blue materials is becoming increasingly urgent.
This collaboration between Samsung Display and TSK is expected to accelerate the commercialization of more sustainable and higher-performance OLED display materials, paving a green and efficient new path for the future development of display technology. (Compiled by TrendForce Display)
