Münster/Germany and Aachen/Germany, March 20, 2018 – OLEDWorks, leading manufacturer of OLED lighting panels, and BASF’s Coatings division, expert for high-quality coatings solutions, joined forces to develop the world’s brightest bendable OLED panels. The new product range named “Brite 3” enables an improved efficacy while having still the superb color rendering and high brightness option. In addition to the new bendable version, completely new application spaces will be possible for luminaire makers and lighting designers. The Brite 3 portfolio, inclusive a new round shape and the bendable version, will be introduced at the 2018 Light + Building exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany.
The OLED lighting technology is very thin and lightweight and offers the best natural light quality for professional and residential lighting and unique design options for automotive lighting. To increase the capabilities of OLED lighting as design elements, bendable panels are required to make shaped or curved luminaires. “Our products are globally renowned for their high quality and functionality. We already offer the brightest and most reliable OLED panels in the world – and now we are going one step further and increase our portfolio by adding flexibility thanks to BASF’s unique barrier solutions,” said Wolfgang Görgen, Managing Director at OLEDWorks.
For the newly launched product range of high brightness and bendable lighting panels, OLEDWorks trusts in the flexible barrier solutions by BASF. The high-performance encapsulation protects the panels from degradation through water or oxygen, both present in ambient air, and provides an excellent optical transparency of more than 90 %. In close interaction with OLEDWorks, BASF has developed barrier materials which are crucial to realize flexible thin-film encapsulation for OLED lighting and display application. In the new Brite 3 panels, OLEDWorks uses BASF materials as planarization layer to enable highly reliable thin-film encapsulation.
“We are delighted to work together with OLEDWorks and provide our expertise and technology to develop an innovative product. Our barrier solutions provide comparable barrier protection as glass. But unlike glass, thin-film encapsulation using BASF barrier materials is flexible, lightweight and break-resistant, offering new possibilities for product design and increased reliability in manufacturing for OLED lighting and display customers,” said Stephan Klotz, head of Functional Films – NOVAGA at BASF’s Coatings division.
About BASF’s Coatings division
The Coatings division of BASF is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries. The portfolio is completed by the “Innovation Beyond Paint” program which aims at developing new markets and businesses. We create advanced performance solutions and drive performance, design and new applications to meet our partners’ needs all over the world. BASF shares skills, knowledge and resources of interdisciplinary and global teams for the benefit of customers by operating a collaborative network of sites in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific. In 2017, the Coatings division achieved global sales of about €3.97 billion.
Solutions beyond your imagination – Coatings by BASF. For more information about the Coatings division of BASF and its products, visit www.basf-coatings.com.
About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The more than 115,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of €64.5 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.
About OLEDWorks
OLEDWorks’ mission is to empower inspired customers through pioneering development and manufacture of the world’s best and most affordable OLED lighting devices. Creating world-class, cost-effective solutions requires an entirely new approach that breaks from traditional OLED manufacturing paradigms. With production in Aachen, Germany and in Rochester, New York, OLEDWorks boasts two innovative and complementary manufacturing platforms that deliver affordable OLED solid state lighting panels. OLEDWorks is uniquely positioned to offer volume production while expanding product portfolio to enhance design inspiration.
The team is comprised of global OLED pioneers and manufacturing experts. As key inventors, innovators, and implementers for the processes and equipment that manufactured the world’s first active matrix OLED display and the highest brightness light panel, OLEDWorks has significant OLED production experience and unique insight into manufacturing strategies specifically tailored to lighting. For further information please have a look on www.oledworks.com.
BASF Media Contact: OLEDWorks Media Contact:
Joerg Zumkley Daniel Hoffmann
Tel.: +49 2501 14-3453 Tel.: +49 241 539-2879
Email: joerg.zumkley@basf.com Email: dhoffmann@oledworks.com
