Thin film coating group forms international alliance

The University of South Australia’s Thin Film Coatings Group has entered into a strategic alliance with Swedish research and development company Arubedo AB to bring new electronic products to market.

With thin film coatings at the core of many high-tech products and devices, from solar cells to smartphones, Dr Drew Evans from the Thin Film Coatings Group, part of the University’s Mawson Institute, has welcomed the collaboration.

“This collaboration is really exciting for the Thin Film Coatings Group and UniSA, as it connects us directly with international industry partners who can help take our research from the lab to real-world devices out in society,” Dr Evans said.

Arubedo AB will make novel polymer building blocks in Stockholm and ship their compounds direct to UniSA.

Dr Evans says his team will use a large-scale manufacturing technique to create nanofilms of the different polymers.

“These nanofilms are then tested for their optical and electrical performance, and constructed into a range of devices,” Dr Evans says.

Dr Evans says most of society’s everyday consumer products require thin film coatings to function.

“By creating these films from polymers, we hope to not only make the products cheaper, but to create new products that are more energy efficient and also flexible. For example, a cheap smartphone or solar cell that can be folded or rolled up and put in your pocket,” he says.

“The team at Arubedo AB in Sweden are leaders in creating new polymer building blocks, which we can turn into novel nanofilms for the development of the next generation of consumer electronics.”

Arubedo AB CEO Dr Fredrik von Kieseritzky says new and unprecedented organic electronic devices and applications are expected to hit the market in record short time, as a result of the new collaboration.