Understanding the fundamentals of light emitting electrochemical cells

Research Project, 2020 – 2025

Illumination is a field in rapid development, primarily since it promises large savings in energy consumption. A particularly interesting emerging illumination device is the light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC), since it can combine efficient operation, functional form factors, as well as sustainable and low-cost fabrication and recycling. Team members have separately demonstrated record-lifetime LECs fabricated with cost-efficient solution-based printing and coating methods, and record-high efficiency, flexible, large-area and glare-free emission LECs. The challenge is now to develop LEC devices that combine efficiency with stability during long-term operation. To this end, we need to better understand the complex operational mechanism, which involves electrochemical doping during operation, and to design and synthesize materials that alleviate undesired side reactions. We have therefore assembled a multidisciplinary team with complementary expertise in electronic and ionic material design and synthesis, LEC operation, as well as in device fabrication and characterization. We anticipate that our holistic approach will result in exciting and important fundamental insights as regards to, e.g., the in-situ doping transformation of an electronic material by electrochemistry, but also bring a technical breakthroughs for environmentally green, affordable and highly functional lighting devices with high efficiency and long-term stability.