Samsung Display gets quantum dot ink recycling tech

South Korea's Samsung Display said on Monday it developed technology to recycle quantum dot (QD) ink, aiming to improve cost competitiveness in its quantum dot-organic light emitting diode (QD-OLED) production.

The company said the new technology allows the recovery of 80% of QD ink discarded during the QD-OLED manufacturing process, potentially reducing costs by more than 10 billion won ($7.4 million) annually.

The QD emissive layer is a core component of QD-OLEDs, formed through inkjet printing.

Red and green QD inks are dispensed through microscopic nozzles in micrometer-sized droplets during this process.

The company said about 20% of the ink remains in the nozzles and has previously been discarded.

To address this, Samsung Display formed a task force last December, bringing together manufacturing, development, R&D, environmental safety, and procurement teams.

In August, the task force succeeded in developing a facility to recycle the QD ink.

Samsung Display explained that recycled ink undergoes a high-precision synthesis process to enhance purity and optical characteristics, achieving performance equivalent to the original ink.

The recycled ink has been in use on mass production lines since October.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com