Polish breakthrough in OLED! Noctiluca from Toruń has developed a material that could revolutionise the screens of the future

Could the solution to the problem that the OLED industry has been struggling with for years come from Poland? The company Noctiluca from Toruń has presented the results of its research on a new material, NCEIL-4 – and it looks like this could be a true game changer for the future of screens.

NCEIL-4: the answer to the biggest challenge of OLEDs?

For decades, one of the biggest issues in OLED technology has remained blue light emitters. Their short lifespan and low energy efficiency pose a bottleneck for the further development of this technology. Most manufacturers still rely on outdated, first-generation solutions that date back to the 2000s.

Instead of following the well-trodden path and designing another blue emitter, Noctiluca decided to examine the very structure of OLEDs. The focus was on optimizing the emitting layer (the one responsible for producing light), and the result of this work is a new material – NCEIL-4, which serves as the electron-injecting layer. In tests conducted in South Korea, it demonstrated impressive results: up to 15 times longer lifespan of blue pixels and noticeably lower energy consumption.

How does it work?

NCEIL-4 replaces the commonly used compound Liq (8-Quinolinolato lithium) and exhibits much better properties:

• Reduces the charge injection barrier

• Lowers operating voltage

• Increases quantum and current efficiency

• Does not affect the light spectrum – maintains full colour quality

Moreover, the material can be applied using both vacuum evaporation (PVD) and InkJet printing methods, making it a more versatile solution for different production lines.

Not just televisions

NCEIL-4 is not just the future of screens. The material also shows potential in other organic technologies:

• organic photovoltaic cells (OPV),

• organic field-effect transistors (OFET),

• and even in applications such as document security or modern lighting.

From Toruń to the Global Elite

Noctiluca is not a garage startup. The company debuted on the NewConnect market in 2022 and by December 2024 moved to the main floor of the GPW. Since then, it has been rapidly developing – it opened a modern laboratory in Toruń, created an R&D team in Korea, and established collaborations with top institutes in Germany and Taiwan (ITRI).

Today, Noctiluca collaborates with 8 of the 10 largest screen manufacturers in the world, as well as companies such as:

• the largest Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer,

• a Swiss premium watch manufacturer,

• a leading American consumer electronics brand. (Probably Apple, but we can't be sure 😉)

Plans? Even More Ambitious

The company plans to invest 2-3 million dollars this year in the development of engineering competencies and device physics in Poland. It also aims to create a European centre for research on chemicals for OLEDs and become a leader of the OLED revolution in Europe.

The significance of this announcement cannot be overstated. If NCEIL-4 actually delivers on its promises in mass production, it could not only revolutionise OLEDs but also make Poland one of the key players in the global technology race. And all signs point to this being just the beginning.

Source: Display Daily