| David Terraso
Institute Communications and Public Affairs
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Leopold Demideleer, director
of new business development for Solvay and Elisa
Riedo, assistant professor in the School of Physics,
address the audience during a symposium in honor
of the partnership. |
Last week, Georgia Tech’s Center
for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE) announced
a new partnership that will provide $3 million for research
funding.
Solvay, an international chemical and pharmaceutical
group headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, signed a three-year
commitment with Georgia Tech to fund research in organic
light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).
“Solvay’s partnership represents a substantial
investment in Georgia Tech and signifies the company’s
confidence in Tech’s ability to provide end-to-end
resources encompassing modeling, synthesis, fabrication
and testing,” said Seth Marder, director of COPE.
Solvay’s commitment to Tech will help fund research
in OLEDs, thin-films of organic molecules that give
off light when electricity is applied. OLEDs could be
used in everything from television and computer monitors
to household lighting to handheld computing devices.
COPE has already developed a unique material platform
for OLEDs that may be deposited over large areas by
ink-jet printing and patterned using standard photolithography.
Tech researchers have found that exposing the material
to ultraviolet light leads to hardened materials that
are insoluble and maintain stability under high temperatures,
allowing researchers to build a multi-layered, solid-state
device from liquid materials.
The partnership further strengthens the company’s
solid presence in Georgia, with offices of Solvay Advanced
Polymers in Alpharetta and Solvay Pharmaceuticals in
Marietta. For Tech, the partnership enhances its already
strong international presence and reputation and adds
an outlet for successful technology transfer and commercialization
of research.
COPE, through the research group of Jean-Luc Bredas,
already conducts research activities with the University
of Mons-Hainaut in Belgium.
“Because Georgia Tech is an institution that
is continuing to grow its reputation as a global
player, this partnership helps that effort by strengthening
the name recognition in the capital of Europe,”
said Bredas, a professor in the School
of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
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