Programmable polymer microarrays for tunable and flexible display

Project Information

PPMTFD

Grant agreement ID: 896348

DOI

10.3030/896348

Project closed

EC signature date 25 March 2020

Start date 15 February 2021

End date 28 March 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 224 933,76

EU contribution

€ 224 933,76

Coordinated by

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PPMTFD (Programmable polymer microarrays for tunable and flexible display)

Reporting period: 2021-02-15 to 2023-02-14

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This Marie Skłodowska Curie Action (MSCA) titled “Programmable Polymer Microarray for Tunable and Flexible Display” aimed to develop a new kind of information storage and display and anti-counterfeiting technology with colorful switch state and low power consumption, this display doesn’t have the backlight module like liquid crystal displays (LCD) and self-illumination light like organic light-emitting diode displays (OLEDs), it can protect our eyes and provide a more comfortable and convenient reading experience. What’s more, the security of the displayed information has been greatly improved.

The future is a world of screens. Not only televisions, computers, mobile phones and open air large screens, but also the surface of tables or walls, as well as the displays inside vehicles showing real-time information. LCD and OLED are now conventional display technologies that have been extensively used in smart phones, televisions, tablets and many other displays. However, they also have problems such as high energy consumption, visual impairment after long-term reading and large volume. In order to meet the increasing demand of portable and electronic products and low energy consumption, new display technologies are highly desired. At the same time, counterfeiting threatens the information security of individuals and society, so it is also necessary to improve information security while displaying information.

The MSCA Fellow has focused on four major objectives: 1) synthesize new kind of stimuli-responsive molecules for the novel information display and anti-counterfeiting; 2) study the kinetics of energy transfer between stimuli-responsive molecules and fluorophores for dynamic emission; 3) fabricate the functional molecules doped polymer microarray for the preparation of display panel; 4) modulate the molecules ratios and external stimulations to obtain the colorful and flexible display.
In addressing these objectives, this project will report on the development of a kind of stimuli-responsive compound-indole dimer which displayed multiple stimuli-driven chromotropic capabilities, when triggered by stimuli, the color of the compound changes rapidly, accompanied by reversible changes in fluorescence. Interestingly, the color changes of the indole dimer were orthogonal to those of the traditionally utilized stimuli-responsive spiropyran (SP). In combination, this allowed the preparation of invisible inks for printing, with security of information encrypted based on their diametrically opposed response to thermal and acid/base stimulation. The MSCA Fellow will also show the kinetics of the photo-isomerization of spiropyran, the FRET process of the composite, a programmable FRET process is developed to obtain tunable outputs. More importantly, flexible microarrays are fabricated from such fluorochromic mixtures by inkjet printing. The dynamic FRET process can also be constructed and generate tunable fluorescence in the ready-made microstructures. These created flexible patterns based on the functional microarrays can be used as novel optically readable media for information storage and display.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In conjunction with Prof. Bradley, I established a Personal Career Development Plan (CDP). The overall training provided by UoE has contributed to ensue I am employable, professional and equipped for employment in academia, the private sector and/or government/regulatory agencies. In this regard, I have aimed to: 1) gain specialist skills and knowledge within the chosen research area and to be able to apply them across disciplines; 2) operate within an interdisciplinary and intersectional training environment; 3) enhance my confidence and communication skill across sectors and 4) develop a wide-range of transferable skills. Based on my multi-disciplinary research experience and interests. Accordingly, this development is noted below.

Outreach Activities
I have attended several conferences and events to post on progress and updates of my Marie-Curie project.
Events attended
1. Hongyan Xia, Mark Bradley. Programmable and flexible fluorochromic polymer microarrays for information storage, 2022 The International Conference on Optical and Photonic Engineering (icOPEN 2022), November 24-27, 2022, Nanjing, China. (Oral Presentation).
2. The Joseph Black Conference, Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh (24th May 2022).
3. 50TH SCOTTISH REGIONAL MEETING OF THE RSC ORGANIC DIVISION ( 22nd June 2022, Joseph Black Building, University of Glasgow).
Published Articles
During the award, 2 papers have been published. These titles are as follows:
(i) Hongyan Xia, Tommy Loan, Mithun Santra, Kang Xie,* Mark Bradley.* Multiplexed stimuliresponsive molecules for high-security anti-counterfeiting applications. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2023, 11, 4164-4170.
(ii) Hongyan Xia, Yuguo Ding, Jingjing Gong, Annamaria Lilienkampf, Kang Xie, * Mark Bradley. * Programmable and flexible fluorochromic polymer microarrays for information storage. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2022, 14, 27107-27117.
The data sets collected during this MSCA project will be maintained in line with the project’s data management plan towards open access databases.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project is to create a display technology that is low-power consumption, portable, and easy to read in various lighting environments. As a supplement to the existing display technology, this display technology is expected to be applied in e-book readers, electronic tags, smart wearable devices, electronic advertisements, traffic information display and other fields in the future.

Development of Independent group leader and international educator.
Along with a personally tailored CDP to enhance the Fellows skills in supervision and leadership, this fellowship will place me in an ideal situation to establish my independent research group and to apply for key Fellowships or research funding (such as EPSRC Open Fellowship, ERC starting grant in Europe, University Research Fellowship in UK, Chancellor’s Fellowship at UoE, Christina Miller Fellowship at UoE etc) to fund it. Prof. Bradley, Prof. Jones, Prof. Robertson will guide me to improve my writing skills in scientific articles and research grants. My oral presentation abilities will also be improved by teaching courses and giving conference talks. This improvement of my maturity, independence and communication skills will enhance my new career perspectives to enable me to become an excellent researcher.

Impact of candidate’s activity on European Society.
This project allowed the Fellow to utilize and develop new support networks in UK and China. The project goals have the capacity to benefit will EU significantly, if the key concepts can be further advanced. The host institution has a dedicated infrastructure to ensure that the intellectual property (IP) which could arise in future from this project is protected and exploited effectively for the benefits of EU. Additionally, through the involved collaborative networks across both academic and non-academic sectors, this proposal has the potential to enhance UK’s international reputation and offer a unique opportunity to enrich UK academic research, and gain intellectual leverage from the critical mass of outstanding nano-diagnostic research in the EU, subject to further advancements of key concepts.

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