LG Chem gets DuPont’s soluble OLED tech

LG Chem has acquired technology to produce soluble organic light emitting diodes from U.S. chemical firm DuPont, announced the company on Tuesday.

The deal includes more than 540 patents DuPont holds on soluble OLED technology as well as research and manufacturing equipment.

Under a mutual agreement, the size of the deal was not disclosed but industry watchers estimate it to have been worth around 200 billion won ($175.9 million) to 300 billion won.

According to LG, the conventional method of producing an OLED screen is to spread material on the panel and evaporate it under a high heat. Soluble OLED screens, however, involve printing material on to the panel using inkjet printing technology. The company explained that this minimizes material loss because it prints the material instead of spreading and evaporating it. This also allows for the screen to show more vivid visuals.

“Due to such benefits, soluble OLEDs are expected to start mass production across many display makers worldwide,” said LG. “With the core technology acquired through the deal we plan to take a lead in the market by organizing a stable supply chain of soluble OLED materials.”

LG also started its own research on soluble OLEDs in 2015 and has expertise in injecting and spreading material on panels.

The company said that it plans to further expand collaborations with DuPont in the future.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]