Patent Grant
11329111
The present application is the U.S. national phase of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2020/074589 filed on Feb. 10, 2020, which claims a priority of the Chinese patent application 201910431442.4 filed on May 22, 2019, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present disclosure relates to the field of display technology, in particular to a flexible substrate, its manufacturing method and a display panel.
Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) has been considered as a next-generation display technology for replacing a liquid crystal technology due to its inherent advantages such as self-luminescence, high brightness, rapid response, wide gamut, and being applicable to a flexible display device. The OLED consists of a cathode, an anode and an organic material arranged between the cathode and the anode, so various display defects may occur for the OLED due to the existence of water, oxygen or dust, and thereby a display result and an optical service life of the OLED may be adversely affected. In order to prevent elements/members/parts from being adversely affected by the water and oxygen, currently organic thin films and inorganic thin films are arranged alternately. However, an inorganic material has such characteristics as low surface energy, low surface tension and low solubility. In addition, usually the inorganic material is fragile, and when it is used together with an organic material, cracks may easily occur in an inorganic layer. Furthermore, there is a small adhesion between the inorganic material and the organic material, and a clearance may easily occur between the inorganic layer and an organic layer, so the water and oxygen may permeate the OLED, and thereby the optical performance and the optical service life of the OLED may be adversely affected.
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments a flexible substrate, including: a base substrate; an organic thin film, an inorganic thin film and a function layer laminated on the base substrate; and a first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer arranged between the organic thin film and the inorganic thin film and adhered to the organic thin film and the inorganic thin film respectively.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the function layer includes a thin film transistor (TFT) layer and a planarization layer laminated one on another, and a second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer is arranged between the TFT layer and the planarization layer.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer includes water-and-oxygen absorption material members and adhesive members arranged alternately in a direction perpendicular to a lamination direction.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer includes water-and-oxygen absorption material members and adhesive members arranged alternately in a direction perpendicular to a lamination direction.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, a ratio of a space occupied by the water-and-oxygen absorption material members to a space occupied by the adhesive members is 2:1.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, each water-and-oxygen absorption material member is made of a water-and-oxygen absorption material, and the water-and-oxygen absorption material is acquired through hybridization of an inorganic-organic composite.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, each adhesive member is made of an adhesive, and the adhesive is made of a polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite or an organic silicone resin.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the water-and-oxygen absorption material includes one or more of an acrylic resin hybridized with silicon dioxide, 1,4-butenediol hybridized with silicon dioxide, cis-butenedioic anhydride hybridized with silicon dioxide, and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene hybridized with silicon dioxide.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite includes a resin material with silicon oxide nanoparticles or silicon oxynitride nanoparticles, and the organic silicone resin includes one or more of polyalkyl organic silicone resin, polyaryl organic silicone resin and polyalkylaryl silicone resin.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments a method for manufacturing a flexible substrate, including: forming an organic thin film on a base substrate; forming a first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer on the organic thin film; forming an inorganic thin film on the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer; and forming a function layer on the inorganic thin film.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the forming the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer on the organic thin film includes: depositing a water-and-oxygen absorption material onto the organic thin film; patterning the water-and-oxygen absorption material to form an isolation area, thereby to acquire a water-and-oxygen absorption member; and depositing or spraying an adhesive at the isolation area of the water-and-oxygen absorption material member, so as to form the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, prior to depositing the water-and-oxygen absorption material onto the organic thin film, the method further includes subjecting a surface of the organic thin film proximate to the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer to plasma treatment.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the forming the function layer on the inorganic thin film includes: forming a TFT layer on the inorganic thin film; forming a second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer on the TFT layer; and forming a planarization layer on the second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer.
In yet another aspect, the present disclosure provides in some embodiments a display panel including the above-mentioned flexible substrate.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the display panel is an OLED display panel.
In order to illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure or the related art in a clearer manner, the drawings desired for the present disclosure or the related art will be described hereinafter briefly. Obviously, the following drawings merely relate to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and based on these drawings, a person skilled in the art may obtain the other drawings without any creative effort.
In order to make the objects, the technical solutions and the advantages of the present disclosure more apparent, the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in a clear and complete manner in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments.
As shown in
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the base substrate 100 may be a glass base substrate 100. During the formation of the organic thin film 101, an organic thin film material may be applied onto the glass base substrate 100 through a spin coating process, and then a subsequent array process may be performed, so as to remove the organic thin film 101 and any other film layer(s) on the organic thin film 101 off from the glass base substrate 100. In this regard, the formed flexible substrate has no glass base substrate, so as to ensure the foldability of the flexible substrate.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, subsequent to the formation of the organic thin film 101, the organic thin film 101 may be subjected to plasma treatment, i.e., interaction between a gas and the flexible substrate may be excited through high-frequency coil discharging to increase surface energy, so as to increase an adhesion force between the organic thin film 101 and the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer 102. The organic thin film 101 may be made of a flexible organic material with a small elastic modulus, e.g., polyimide (PI), polycarbonate (PC) or polyether sulfone (PES). In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the organic thin film 101 may be made of PI. The inorganic thin film 103 may be made of silicon oxide or silicon nitride. In a possible embodiment of the present disclosure, the inorganic thin film 103 may be made of silicon oxide.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer 102 may be arranged between the organic thin film 101 and the inorganic thin film 103. Through the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer 102, it is able to effectively prevent the organic thin film 101 from being separated from the inorganic thin film 103 due to cracks at an interface therebetween, and prevent the lateral permeation of water and oxygen. In addition, it is able to overcome such drawbacks of the inorganic thin film 103 as large surface tension, being difficult to be wetted, large rigidity, high fragility, and being difficult to be adhered to the organic thin film 101.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer 102 is arranged between the organic thin film 101 and the inorganic thin film 103 of the flexible substrate, a thickness of the flexible substrate may increase, and the other function layers may be easily broken during the folding. Hence, the second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer 202 may be arranged between the TFT layer 201 and the planarization layer 203, so as to prevent the other function layers from being broken during the folding. In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer 102 and the second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer 202 may include water-and-oxygen absorption material members and adhesive members arranged alternately. As shown in
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the water-and-oxygen absorption material member may be made of a water-and-oxygen absorption material, and the water-and-oxygen absorption material may be acquired through hybridization of an inorganic-organic composite.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the adhesive member may be made of an adhesive, and the adhesive may be made of a polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite or an organic silicone resin.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, in the flexible substrate, a position of the water-and-oxygen absorption material member 1021 may be exchanged with a position of the adhesive member 1022 in
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, in the flexible substrate, shapes of each water-and-oxygen absorption material member 1021 and each adhesive member 1022 in
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the water-and-oxygen absorption material may include one or more of an acrylic resin hybridized with silicon dioxide, 1,4-butenediol hybridized with silicon dioxide, cis-butenedioic anhydride hybridized with silicon dioxide, and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene hybridized with silicon dioxide.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the water-and-oxygen absorption material may be acquired through hybridization of an inorganic-organic composite. Through the water-and-oxygen absorption material, it is able to prevent the lateral and longitudinal permeation of the water and oxygen, and prevent a back plate from being damaged due to the separation of the organic thin film from the inorganic thin film. The water-and-oxygen absorption material may include the inorganic-organic composite. It has a strong affinity with an organic material, and it may also be used to increase the affinity for the organic material and an inorganic material. In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the water-and-oxygen absorption material may include one or more of an acrylic resin, 1,4-butenediol, cis-butenedioic anhydride, and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) hybridized with silicon dioxide.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite may include a resin material with silicon oxide nanoparticles or silicon oxynitride nanoparticles, and the organic silicone resin may include one or more of polyalkyl organic silicone resin, polyaryl organic silicone resin and polyalkylaryl silicone resin.
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, on one hand, the polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite has properties of a polymer adhesive, and on the other hand, the toughness, the mechanical property and the thermal property of the polymer-based nanocomposite are improved due to the addition of the inorganic nanocomposite. When a polymer material is modified with an inorganic nanometer material, the polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite may have features of both an organic material and an inorganic material, so it may serve as a transition layer between the inorganic material and the organic material, and may be used to increase an action force between the organic material and the inorganic material. In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite may be prepared through adding SiO2/SiNOx nanoparticles into acrylate, epoxy resin or acrylic resin using a solution co-blending method, and then deposited onto the flexible substrate through ink-jet printing, so as to achieve the transition between the inorganic material and the polymer, thereby to increase an action force between the flexible substrate and an inorganic waterproof layer.
The organic silicone resin may include a main chain Si—O—Si consisting of Si and O connected alternately, and a side chain consisting of Si and various organic radicals connected to Si, so it may have the properties of an organic material and an inorganic material. At a high temperature, a chemical bond between atoms is not broken easily, and a substance is not decomposed easily, so there is an excellent adhesion force between the organic silicon resin and the organic/inorganic material. In addition, there is a great degree of freedom between Si—O bonds, so it is able to increase a large spacing between molecules and reduce an intermolecular force, thereby to reduce interaction between the Si—O bonds as well as a surface tension. Hence, even at a low temperature, the organic silicone resin may still manifest an excellent physiochemical property, and thereby it may have excellent thermo-chemical stability. Furthermore, silicone resin is of a highly cross-linked net-like structure, and it is cooled naturally, an elastomer having high performance may be provided. The side chain contains the organic radial, so the organic silicone resin may have thermal deformability approaching to the organic material. In a word, the organic silicone resin is a perfect adhesive made of an organic material and an inorganic material.
According to the flexible substrate in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer may be arranged between, and connected to respectively, the organic thin film and the inorganic thin film, so as to overcome such drawbacks of the inorganic thin film as large surface tension, being difficult to be wetted, large rigidity, high fragility, and being difficult to be adhered to the organic thin film, thereby to prevent the organic thin film from being separated from the inorganic thin film due to cracks at an interface therebetween, and prevent the lateral permeation of the water and oxygen.
As shown in
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, prior to Step 701, a glass base substrate may be provided at first, and the organic thin film may be formed on the glass base substrate through spin coating. Next, a water-and-oxygen absorption material may be deposited onto the organic thin film through thermal chemical vapor deposition to form a water-and-oxygen absorption material member. The water-and-oxygen absorption material may be acquired through hybridization of an inorganic-organic composite, so as to prevent the lateral and longitudinal permeation of water and oxygen, and prevent a back plate from being damaged due to the separation of the organic thin film from the inorganic thin film. Next, the water-and-oxygen absorption material member may be etched, and an adhesive member made of a polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite or organic silicone resin may be formed on the etched water-and-oxygen absorption material member through ink-jet printing or thermal chemical deposition, so as to prevent the separation of the organic thin film from the inorganic thin film. The water-and-oxygen absorption material members and the adhesive members may be arranged alternately to form the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer, and then the inorganic thin film and the function layer may be formed on the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer.
According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, through the introduction of the water-and-oxygen absorption material member, it is able to prevent the lateral permeation of water and oxygen due to cracks at a periphery of the flexible substrate when the flexible substrate is cut. The water-and-oxygen absorption material may be added on the flexible substrate to prevent the lateral permeation of the water and oxygen at the cracks. In addition, the adhesive layer may be added between the organic thin film and the inorganic thin film so as to increase an adhesion force between the organic thin film and the inorganic thin film, thereby to prevent the flexible substrate from being damaged when the organic thin film is separated from the inorganic thin film.
As shown in
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, using the plasma treatment, interaction between a gas and the flexible substrate may be excited through high-frequency coil discharging to increase surface energy, so as to increase an adhesion force between the flexible substrate and the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer 102.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in
In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the TFT layer may be deposited on the inorganic thin film. A method for forming the second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer on the TFT layer through chemical deposition may be the same as a method for forming the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer on the organic thin film, i.e., the water-and-oxygen absorption material may be deposited on the TFT layer through thermal chemical deposition to form the water-and-oxygen absorption thin film. Of course, the water-and-oxygen absorption material may also be deposited on the TFT layer in any other ways, which will not be particularly defined herein. The water-and-oxygen absorption material may be acquired through hybridization of the inorganic-organic composite, so as to prevent the lateral and longitudinal permeation of the water and oxygen, and prevent a back plate from being damaged due to the separation of the organic thin film from the inorganic thin film. The water-and-oxygen absorption material may mainly include the inorganic-organic composite. It has a strong affinity with an organic material, and it may also be used to increase the affinity for the organic material and an inorganic material. The water-and-oxygen absorption material may mainly include one or more of an acrylic resin, 1,4-butenediol, cis-butenedioic anhydride, and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) hybridized with silicon dioxide. Next, the water-and-oxygen absorption thin film may be etched with a mask plate to acquire the water-and-oxygen absorption thin film structure in
According to the method for manufacturing the flexible substrate in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer may be arranged between, and connected to, the organic thin film and the inorganic thin film, so as to overcome such drawbacks of the inorganic thin film as large surface tension, being difficult to be wetted, large rigidity, high fragility, and being difficult to be adhered to the organic thin film, thereby to prevent the organic thin film from being separated from the inorganic thin film due to cracks at an interface therebetween, and prevent the lateral permeation of the water and oxygen.
The present disclosure further provides in some embodiments a display panel including a flexible substrate. The flexible substrate may include a base substrate, and an organic thin film, an inorganic thin film and a function layer laminated on the base substrate. A first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer may be arranged between, and adhered to respectively, the organic thin film and the inorganic thin film.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the function layer may include a TFT layer and a planarization layer laminated one on another, and a second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer may be arranged between the TFT layer and the planarization layer.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer and the second water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer may include water-and-oxygen absorption material members and adhesive members arranged alternately in a direction perpendicular to a lamination direction.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, each water-and-oxygen absorption material member is made of a water-and-oxygen absorption material, and the water-and-oxygen absorption material is acquired through hybridization of an inorganic-organic composite.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, each adhesive member is made of an adhesive, and the adhesive is made of a polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite or an organic silicone resin.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the water-and-oxygen absorption material includes one or more of an acrylic resin hybridized with silicon dioxide, 1,4-butenediol hybridized with silicon dioxide, cis-butenedioic anhydride hybridized with silicon dioxide, and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene hybridized with silicon dioxide.
In some possible embodiments of the present disclosure, the polymer-based inorganic nanocomposite includes a resin material with silicon oxide nanoparticles or silicon oxynitride nanoparticles, and the organic silicone resin includes one or more of polyalkyl organic silicone resin, polyaryl organic silicone resin and polyalkylaryl silicone resin.
According to the display panel in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first water-and-oxygen absorption adhesive layer may be arranged between, and connected to respectively, the organic thin film and the inorganic thin film, so as to overcome such drawbacks of the inorganic thin film as large surface tension, being difficult to be wetted, large rigidity, high fragility, and being difficult to be adhered to the organic thin film, thereby to prevent the organic thin film from being separated from the inorganic thin film due to cracks at an interface therebetween, and prevent the lateral permeation of the water and oxygen.
For ease of description, the above-mentioned method has been described on the basis of a series of steps, and it should be appreciated that, these steps may also be performed in any other order or simultaneously. In addition, the above embodiments are for illustrative purposes only, and the steps and modules involved therein are not always necessary.
The above embodiments have been described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar contents in the embodiments will not be repeated, i.e., each embodiment merely focuses on the difference from the others.
It should be further appreciated that, such words as “first” and “second” are merely used to separate one entity or operation from another entity or operation, but are not necessarily used to represent or imply any relation or order between the entities or operations. In addition, such terms as “include” or “including” or any other variations involved in the present disclosure intend to provide non-exclusive coverage, so that a procedure, method, article or device including a series of elements may also include any other elements not listed herein, or may include any inherent elements of the procedure, method, article or device. If without any further limitations, for the elements defined by such sentence as “including one . . . ”, it is not excluded that the procedure, method, article or device including the elements may also include any other identical elements.
The flexible substrate, its manufacturing method and the display panel have been described hereinabove in details. The principle and the implementation of the present disclosure has been set forth with reference to the embodiments, and these embodiments are merely used to facilitate the understanding of the method and the core concept of the present disclosure. Based on the concept of the present disclosure, a person skilled in the art may make further modifications without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. In a word, the contents in the specification shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201910431442.4 | May 2019 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2020/074589 | 2/10/2020 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2020/233173 | 11/26/2020 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210143234 A1 | May 2021 | US |
