Goodbye, fluorescent light bulbs: New lighting technology won’t flicker, shatter or burn out
The device is made of three layers of moldable white-emitting polymer blended with a small amount of nanomaterials that glow when stimulated to create bright and perfectly white light similar to the sunlight human eyes prefer. However, it can be made in any color and any shape – from 2×4-foot sheets to replace office lighting to a bulb with Edison sockets to fit household lamps and light fixtures. This new lighting solution is at least twice as efficient as compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and on par with LEDs, but these bulbs won’t shatter and contaminate a home like CFLs or emit a bluish light like LED counterparts.
Still waiting for the other shoe to drop — new technology doesn’t always pan out, though this seems closer to production than most. No mention of how the price will compare to existing products; despite the generally lower total cost of ownership of CFL and LED bulbs, some are put off by the price of the bulb. Also, FIPEL? I think that will get reworked for public consumption.
As noted in said article’s Comment section: multi-walled carbon nanotubes, dispersed in an emissive layer of poly (N-vinylcarbazole), with fac-tris(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III). Iridium is $1000 oz this morning. Annual worldwide production is 0.134 m^3. Carbon nanotubes have unknown hazards.