How graphene is a key material for flexible displays and the future of electronics

In the 21st century, the electronics industry is rapidly evolving through the integration and innovation of smart devices. In particular, graphene, a new material with excellent strength and conductivity, has been attracting attention as a key material for the future electronics industry, opening up possibilities for various technologies including flexible displays.

 

When looking at recent trends in the electronics industry, the concept of ‘ubiquitous’ is at the center of it, meaning that efforts have been made to create an environment where people can always connect to the information and communication network and utilize various information and communication services regardless of time and place. In the past, you had to have a TV to watch TV, a phone to make a phone call, and a separate watch to watch the clock, but this inconvenience is rapidly disappearing in the 21st century. Nowadays, all of these functions are integrated into a single device called a smartphone, or even better, a smart pad. The result of these technological innovations has been a tremendous change in the way people consume, communicate, and enjoy information in their daily lives.
The convergence and integration of technologies is becoming an important direction for the electronics industry. For example, you only have to look at Apple’s iPad commercial to realize this shift: “We can now see the call, we can now hear the radio. Whereas before we could only hear the other person’s voice, now we can see the other person’s face through video calls. This is a reflection of the advancement of information and communication technology and a deep consideration of user experience. These integrated features have allowed consumers to fulfill multiple roles with one device, which has led to the development of more complex devices.
Just a few years ago, Samsung ran an ad where you could unwrap a wristwatch, unfold it to make calls like a cell phone, expand it to view video like a computer monitor, and fold it back up to wear on your wrist. At the time, this technology seemed a bit futuristic, but now we’re at a point where a device the size of your palm can function as a computer, a monitor, and a wristwatch. It’s a prime example of how we’ve evolved to maximize the use of electronic devices in our lives.
But what’s the technology behind this transformation? The answer is flexible displays. Flexible displays are devices that can be bent or folded, offering different usability than traditional rigid displays. In particular, flexible displays are gaining increasing interest in various industries, and the most important challenge is to develop new materials that can realize them. Among them, a new material called ‘graphene’ is attracting attention, and it is considered to be a material that can lead a revolutionary change in the electronics industry thanks to its excellent physical and chemical properties.
Graphene is a nanomaterial composed of carbon and has a two-dimensional planar shape. It is only 0.2 nm thick, or about 10 billionths of a meter, and despite this, it is 200 times stronger than steel and 100 times more electrically conductive than copper. Thanks to these properties, graphene doesn’t lose its electrical properties when bent or flexed, and its transparency is over 98%, making it ideal for a variety of display technologies. The discovery of graphene sent shockwaves through the scientific and industrial communities around the world, and various application technologies began to be researched.
In 2009, researchers at Sungkyunkwan University succeeded in commercializing a bendable transparent film measuring about 2 centimeters across using graphene. This achievement is an important example of how quickly future display technologies can evolve. In addition to flexible displays, graphene could be used in solar cells, electronic paper, wearable computers, and many other applications. We’re seeing nude displays like the ones in Minority Report, which were once the stuff of Hollywood movies, become a reality.
But graphene has its limits. Currently, graphene is not widely used to improve the performance of digital devices because its bandgap and high charge transfer rate are physically incompatible. Because digital devices are systems that convey information through two signals, 0 and 1, they require semiconductors that can only flow current under certain conditions. However, graphene has no bandgap, making it difficult to regulate this current flow. This has been a barrier to its use in applications other than displays, and research is underway to address this issue.
The potential for growth in the market utilizing graphene is still very large, and according to a recent forecast, the global graphene market was valued at approximately $200 million in 2023 and is expected to grow to more than $5 billion by 2032. The market is expected to grow at a high CAGR of 30-40%, with the main growth driver being the increasing demand from various industries such as electronics, energy, automotive, and aviation.
In particular, applications for graphene-based batteries, electrodes, and semiconductors are rapidly expanding. Graphene plays an important role in lithium-ion batteries due to its high conductivity and high mechanical strength, and its utilization in electric vehicles and energy storage technologies is increasing significantly. These technological breakthroughs are not only impacting the electronics industry, but also the healthcare, aerospace, and defense industries, where graphene’s applications are expected to continue to expand.
Ultimately, as innovative materials like graphene are utilized in a variety of fields, we are moving into a new era of integration that goes beyond simply integrating computer software with mobile devices, to the point where the devices themselves can be used as wristwatches. With the continued research and development of graphene and other new materials, we can look forward to Korea becoming a technologically advanced country that will shape the future.