Ultraviolet Light Debondable Optically Clear Adhesives for Flexible Displays Through Efficient Visible-Light Curing.

With growing sustainability concerns, the need for products that facilitate easy disassembly and reuse has increased. Adhesives, initially designed for bonding, now face demands for selective removal, enabling rapid assembly-disassembly and efficient maintenance across industries. This need is particularly evident in the display industry, with the rise of foldable devices necessitating specialized adhesives. We present a novel optically clear adhesive (OCA) for foldable display, featuring a unique UV-stimulated selective removal feature. Our approach incorporates benzophenone derivatives into the polymer network, facilitating rapid debonding under UV irradiation. A key feature of our method is the adept use of visible-light-driven radical polymerization for OCA film fabrication. This method shows remarkable compatibility with various monomers and exhibits orthogonal reactivity to benzophenone, rendering it ideal for large-scale production. The resultant OCA not only has high transparency and balanced elasticity, along with excellent resistance to repeated folding, but it also exhibits significantly reduced adhesion when exposed to UV irradiation. By merging this customized formulation with strategically integrated UV-responsive elements, we offer an effective solution that enhances manufacturing efficiency and product reliability in the rapidly evolving field of sustainable electronics and displays. Our research additionally contributes to eco-friendly device fabrication, aligning with emerging technology demands. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.