AZ electronics awarded licensing agreements with Texan university

Speciality chemicals producer AZ Electronic Materials has entered into licensing and sponsored research agreements with William Marsh Rice University in Texas, giving AZ exclusive worldwide rights to several patent families covering the preparation methods and application of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs).

GNRs are a type of carbon material which is increasingly used within the electronics industry, particularly where cost efficiency and improved technical performance characteristics are key factors in the development of transparent and flexible electronics and advanced optical devices.

The sponsored research agreement will run at the same time as an internal programme that AZ has initiated on GNRs and related materials at its US facility in Branchburg, New Jersey.

Geoff Wild, AZ's Chief Executive Officer, said: "Our collaboration with Rice provides AZ with an exciting opportunity to bring new material solutions to our customers to help create the next generation of electronic devices.

"Rice's innovative approach to materials science coupled with AZ's industry-leading formulation and scale-up capabilities, plus our global presence supporting the key display manufacturing infrastructure, will allow us to develop novel carbon-type solutions for the flexible display industry."

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