PFI: Partnership for Innovation on Liquid-Crystal Polymer Interfaces

PFI：液晶聚合物界面创新合作伙伴关系

• 批准号: 1114332
• 负责人: Peter Palffy-Muhoray
• 金额: $ 60万
• 依托单位: Kent State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-09-15 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1114332&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; Partnership; Innovation; Liquid; Crystal

This Partnerships for Innovation project from Kent State University, which is partnering with two knowledge-enhancement partner companies and five other academic, industrial and non-profit partners, will establish a broad platform on liquid crystal (LC) - polymer interfaces. LC - polymer interfaces have been of vital importance in the liquid crystal display (LCD) industry since its inception. The recent advent of flexible LCDs using plastic substrates is generating renewed and urgent interest in interface design and associated behavior. The move from glass to soft flexible substrates not only raises new technical problems, but also illuminates old ones. These problems and questions of basic science are exceptionally close and are inextricably linked; the goal of the project is to connect device and manufacturing issues in industry to the frontiers of academic research. The project aims to identify the technical issues in real products of the partner companies and to offer solutions based on the state-of-the-art characterization, computational materials science, and novel materials development. The proposed platform will not only solve key problems in currently emerging technologies, but it will also enable new LC-on-plastic (LCOP) technologies and thereby provide to U.S. industry new opportunities with the potential for strong economic development based on LCOP products. The broader impacts of this research are potentially large-scale economic opportunities for U.S. display and related industries. A dramatic technological change today is the move of LCDs from glass to plastic substrates. This change represents a tremendous opportunity for U.S. industry to again establish a leadership position and develop and benefit from the emerging LCOP technology. The partnership will disseminate project results through networks in the LC-polymer community and provide a model for future industry-university collaboration in practical problem solving. If the current challenges are overcome, the U.S. will have the opportunity to harness, develop, and cultivate this emerging new technology, with vast technological and economic promise. Partners at the inception of the project include the Knowledge-Enhancement Partnership (KEP) unit, consisting of Kent State University (Liquid Crystal Institute) and two small businesses: AlphaMicron (AMI) (Kent, OH), and Kent Displays (KDI) (Kent, OH), both of which are the pioneers responsible for the breakthrough demonstrations that LCOP technology is possible. In addition, there are other partners. These partners include other academic institutions: University of Akron and University of Oklahoma; a private sector organization (non-profit): Bridgestone Americas Center for Research Technology; and public sector organizations: Nortech/FlexMatters and Polymer Ohio Inc.

肯特州立大学（Kent State University）的创新项目合作伙伴关系将与两家知识增强合作伙伴公司以及其他五个学术，工业和非营利性合作伙伴合作，将建立一个广泛的液晶（LC） - 聚合物接口的平台。 LC-聚合物界面自成立以来在液晶显示器（LCD）行业中至关重要。 柔性LCD最近使用塑料底物的出现是对界面设计和相关行为产生重新且紧急的兴趣。 从玻璃到柔软的柔性底物不仅提出了新的技术问题，而且还阐明了旧技术问题。 基础科学的这些问题和问题非常接近，并且密不可分地联系在一起；该项目的目的是将工业中的设备和制造问题连接到学术研究的前沿。 该项目旨在确定合作伙伴公司实际产品中的技术问题，并根据最先进的特征，计算材料科学和新型材料开发提供解决方案。拟议的平台不仅将解决当前新兴技术的关键问题，而且还将使新的LC-on-plastic（LCOP）技术能够为美国行业提供新的机会，并具有基于LCOP产品的强大经济发展的潜力。 这项研究的广泛影响是美国展示和相关行业的潜在大规模经济机会。 当今的技术变化是LCD从玻璃转向塑料底物的移动。这一变化代表了美国行业再次建立领导地位并从新兴的LCOP技术中发展和受益的巨大机会。该合作伙伴关系将通过LC聚合物社区的网络传播项目结果，并为未来的行业大学合作提供实践问题解决的模型。 如果克服当前的挑战，美国将有机会以巨大的技术和经济承诺来利用，发展和培养这项新兴的新技术。 该项目成立时的合作伙伴包括由肯特州立大学（液晶研究所）和两家小型企业组成的知识增强合作伙伴关系（KEP）部门：Alphamicron（AMI）（AMI）（俄亥俄州肯特）和肯特展示（KDI）（KDI）（KENT）（KENT）（肯特），这都是对领域的责任示例，这是一个可能的示例技术。此外，还有其他合作伙伴。 这些合作伙伴包括其他学术机构：阿克伦大学和俄克拉荷马大学；一个私营部门组织（非营利组织）：普利司通美洲研究技术中心；和公共部门组织：Nortech/Flexmatters and Polymer Ohio Inc.