Katarzyna Petru
Samsung Display wants to take another step towards more efficient and durable QD-OLED panels. The company has just announced a collaboration with the Japanese TSK Corp. on a completely new material for blue OLED subpixels — one that may solve one of the biggest problems of this technology.
End of palladium? The Japanese propose a catalyst… made of iron
Currently, palladium is widely used in the production of blue OLEDs. The problem is that:
palladium is extremely rare,
it comes almost exclusively from Russia and South Africa,
it is very expensive,
and its extraction generates enormous environmental damage.
TSK claims to have an alternative: its own chemical process using ordinary iron as a catalyst. Iron is cheap, widely available, and much more environmentally friendly. However, most importantly, this method aims to simplify the production of blue OLED materials and allow for the creation of molecular structures that were previously… practically unattainable using palladium.
Better performance, greater durability, simpler production?
According to TSK, new iron-based compounds have, in initial tests, outperformed classic palladium materials — in terms of both efficiency and quality. It’s no surprise that Samsung Display has taken an interest in them.
The two companies have begun collaborating on:
host materials,
electron-blocking materials
necessary for constructing efficient, stable blue subpixels.
And it is precisely the blue OLED that has long been the Achilles' heel of the entire technology — it lasts shorter, ages faster, and performs worse energetically compared to red and green. If Samsung and TSK manage to achieve better stability, it could mean:
significantly longer lifespan for OLED panels,
higher brightness,
lower risk of burn-in,
and simpler production of QD-OLED.
The companies have already published a joint scientific article — this is the first step towards commercialisation.
The race for the perfect blue OLED is accelerating
Samsung and TSK are not alone. Earlier this year, scientists from Cambridge and Manchester described a new material known as oxadiazine, which also has the potential to significantly reduce costs and improve the efficiency of blue OLED pixels. This is a clear signal that the industry has begun to treat the "blue OLED problem" as a priority — and each subsequent innovation could bring us closer to screens that are brighter, more durable, and even more energy-efficient.
