What They Say
LG Chem announced that it has developed a new coating technology that can be applied to PET to create a material that it calls ‘Real Folding Window’ that is said to be ‘ as hard as glass but (with) folding areas that is as flexible as plastic’. It also said that the material is ‘Thin, (has) crack-prevention, and significantly improved fold lines in the folding area’.
- The material has been tested to have its durability maintained even when folded more than 200,000 times.
- It is cheaper than polyimide
- Can be used for in-folding or out-folding
The firm is also developing the ‘accumulated coating technologies’ to be used without PET.
Mass production is planned to start in 2022 and move to full scale in 2023.
What We Think
This is a big deal. Better performance without the micro-cracking that comes with glass. You can put coatings on the glass to mitigate this effect but that affects the hardness, which can be an issue for marking, especially if a stylus is used. At Display Week, LG Display published a paper that explained how coating both sides of CPI (colourless polyimide) films helps with this effect. I wonder if the LG Chem technology is related to that research? (BR)
