University of Vienna researchers get FFG spin-off fellowship

“IrrevoChrom” project is one out of total eleven recently granted FFG spin-off fellowships that will be led by FFG fellow Laura Maggini and host Davide Bonifazi at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Vienna.

In the era of e-commerce, besides being cost-effective, mass-producible, robust, and unclonable, ideal anti-tampering/quality control tickets or labels need to be convenient for authentication by the end customer. Introducing into these labels an electrochromic display (ECD) could provide the desired readability thanks to the presence of an extremely low power consuming visual indicator, manufacturable at contained costs.

The electrochromic materials (ECMs) generally used to make ECDs, vary their coloration and transparency in a reversible manner when subjected to a small potential. Such coloration change is used in ECDs to display a message. However, to enable a one-time tamperproof response truly irreversible ECMs are required; however, to date, there are none available on the market.

The FFG-funded IrrevoChrom Spin-off Fellowship will build on the patent developed in the Bonifazi group (EP application No EP22164076.6) within the framework of the Charisma Marie-Sklodowska Curie project they are coordinating, entailing the formulation of an irreversible EC matrix composed of both the chromogenic material, an anti-oxidant and electrolyte, to develop and scale-up a commercially viable and completely irreversible electrochromic ink compatible with industrial manufacturing processes.

Upon activation, this ink will provide a stark and permanent color transition (colorless to black), impossible to reverse. Thanks to the new formulations developed in this Fellowship, we will match our technology with industrial ECDs productions processes, jump starting its commercial exploitation, and develop in collaboration with Silicon Austria Labs activatable tamperproof demos.