GB2526556A

GB2526556A - A conformal electroluminescent device

Info

Publication number: GB2526556A
Application number: GB1409357.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Murray-Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-05-27
Filing date: 2014-05-27
Publication date: 2015-12-02
Also published as: GB201409357D0

Abstract

A process for forming an electroluminescent system comprises the steps of selecting a substrate, applying a back film layer using a water-based, electrically conductive material, applying a dielectric phosphor photoluminescent layer using a water-based dielectric phosphor photoluminescent material, applying an electrode film layer using a water-based, transparent, electrically conductive electrode material and formulating a composition for the dielectric phosphor photoluminescent layer by providing a dielectric additive, a phosphor additive and a photoluminescent additive. The process may further comprise the steps of coating a dielectric material with a photoluminescent material and selecting, for the phosphor material, a semi-conductive coating composition having phosphors encapsulated within a highly electrostatically permeable polymer matrix. Also disclosed is a process for forming an electroluminescent system comprising the step of selecting a substrate to form a conductive base layer for the system.

Description

Intellectual Property Office Application No. GB1409357.9 RTTVT Date:18 November 2014 The following terms are registered trade marks and should be read as such wherever they occur in this document: Chrysler, Indiglo Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office www.ipo.govuk A Conformal Electroluminescent Device

Description

The present invention relates to a system for producing electroluminescent devices having a lower electrode layer and an upper electrode layer, the lower and upper electrode layers being connectable to an electrical driving circuit. One or more functional layers are disposed between the lower and upper electrode layers to form at least one electroluminescent area.

Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical phenomenon and electrical phenomenon in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field. General Electric has patents dating to 1938. Electrol Liminescent automotive instrument panel backlighting entered production on 1960 Chrysler and Imperial passenger cars, and was continued on several Chrysler vehicles through 1967. Powder phosphor-based electroluminescent panels are freqLlently used as hacklights to liquid crystal displays. Thin film phosphor Electroluminescence was first commercialized during the 1980s by Sharp Corporation in Japan, Finlux (Oy Lohja Ab) in Finland, and Planar Systems in the USA. Here, bright, long-life light emission is achieved in thin film yellow-emitting manganese-doped zinc sulfide material. In 1992, Timex introduced its Indiglo EL display on some watches. Recently, blue-, red-, and green-emitting thin film electroluminescent materials that offer the potential for long life and full color electroluminescent displays have been developed.

The EL material must be enclosed between two electrodes and a dielectric layer. At least one electrode must be transparent to allow the escape of the produced light. Glass coated with indium tin oxide is commonly used as the front (transparent) electrode while the back electrode is coated with reflective metal. Additionally, other transparent conducting materials, such as carbon nanotube coatings or PEDOT can be used as the front electrode.

Since the I 980s, electroluminescent (EL) technology has come into widespread use in display devices where its relatively low power consumption, relative brightness and ability to be formed in relatively thin-film configurations have shown it to be preferable to light emitting diodes (LEDs) and incandescent technologies for many applications.

EL devices are manufactured by processes such as screen printing or, more recently, ink jet printing. For applications that require relatively planar EL devices these processes have worked reasonably well, as they lend themselves to high-volume production with relatively efficient and reliable quality control. Recent advances have been made in conformal coating of EL systems particularly relating to vehicles, re patent 6926972, which uses a three layer system of electrode-combined dielectric phosphor-transparent electrode and 8470388, which uses the traditional 4 layer system of electrode-dielectric-phosphor-transparent electrode.

The formation of the EL device using this traditional approach requires a multi step process that in actual application terms equates to 3 or more operations per layer or produces a system whereby light oLItpLlt is reduced. There therefore remains a need for a way to produce an EL lamp that is compatible with items having a surface incorporating complex topologies and reduces the number of process steps required to achieve this while maintaining or improving the light output without detracting from the EL device's lifetime.

A process and novel paint formulation is disclosed according to an embodiment to the present invention whereby an El, device is applied to a surface using the novel paint formulation. The present invention is applied to a substrate in a series of layers using the novel formulated paint' that reduces the number of process steps required and provides an EL device of sufficient illLlmination.

One object of the present invention is a process for producing a conformal electro luminescent system that reduces the required number of process steps by providing a novel formulation of an EL paint. The process includes the step of selecting a substrate.

A base film layer is applied upon the select substrate using a preferably, but not limited to, water-based, electrically conductive paintable material. A combined dielectric, photo luminescent; phosphor film (a DPP film) layer is applied upon the conductive film layer using a carrier binder system that is preferably, but not limited to, a water-base. An electrode film layer is applied upon the phosphor film layer using a preferably, hut not limited to, water-base, sufficiently transparent, electrically conductive electrode material.

The back film layer, DPP film layer, and electrode film layer are each preferably applied by, hut not limited to, spray conformal coating. The DPP film layer is excitable by an electrical field established across the phosphor film layer upon application of an electrical charge between the back film layer and the sufficiently transparent electrode film layer such that the DPP film layer emits a combination of photo and electro luminescent light.

In the discussion that follows, the deposition of an EL conformal lamp is via a paint system and as such is a layered structure.

According to an embodiment of the present invention. The EL lamp comprises a substrate a primer layer, an electrically conductive rear electrode layer, a DPP layer and a sLifficiently transparent, electrically conductive top layer.

The substrate may he a select sLirface of any suitable target item upon which EL lamp is to be applied. The substrate may be conductive or non-conductive, and may have any desired complexity of surface. In some embodiments of the present invention the sLibstrate can he a transparent material such as, withoLit limitation, glass or plastic. If the substrate is conductive and/or coated with a subsequent non-conductive layer the substrate may be utilized as the back electrode layer thereby reducing the amount of material required to apply an EL lamp even further.

A primer layer is a non-conductive film coating applied to a substrate. The primer layer serves to electrically insulate substrate from subsequent conductive and semi-conductive layers, discussed further below. However, a primer layer is not strictly necessary in terms of an embodiment of this invention depending on the nature of the substrate and any previous coatings that may have been applied to the substrate by previous treatments.

A conductive base layer is a film coating layer that forms a bottom electrode of an EL lamp. The conductive base layer is preferably a sprayable conductive material and may form the rough outline of the lit EL "field" of the finished EL lamp however as the lamp only emits light as a response to the positioning of the relevant phosphor material the exact positioning and extent of the conductive base layer is non critical and if the substrate itself is conductive this can he used as the base layer of the EL lamp. The material selected for the base layer may be tailored as desired to suit various environmental and application requirements. in one embodiment the base layer constitutes the substrate in another embodiment the base layer is formed form a highly conductive, generally opaque material. Examples of such materials include, without limitation, an alcohol/latex-based or, preferably, water latex based, metal suspensions, graphite suspensions, doped conductive oxide suspension, graphene suspension, carbon nanotube suspension or a metal plating, example types of metal plating include, without limitation, electroless plating, vacuum metalizing, vapor deposition and sputtering, or foil covering, conductive polymers etc. The primary concem regarding the base layer is that the resulting electrically conductive base layer has a relatively low resistance to minimize voltage gradients across the surface of the base layer to allow for the proper operation of the electroluminescent system (i.e., sufficient lamp brightness and brightness uniformity).

in some embodiments the resistance of a plated base layer is preferably less than about one ohm per square inch of surface area.

The DPP layer is composed of a dielectric material coated with a photoluminescent compound and an electroluminescent material encapsulated within an insulating polymer matrix having relatively high permittivity. The dielectric layer may comprise, but not limited to, at least one of a titanate, an oxide, a niobate, an aluminate, a tantalate, and a zirconate material. The photoluminescent material may comprise, hut not limited to, Lumisol, fluorescence, 1,2-Bis(2-Aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N-tetraacetic acid, 2-tert-Butylanthraquinone, 3,8-Diamino-6-phenylphenanthridine, 2,6-Diethylnaphthalene, 5,8-Dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone, 9, lO-Diphenylanthracene, 2,3-Diphenylmaleic anhydride, 6, i 3-Diphenylpentacene, 2-Ethyl anthraquinone, 7-Hydroxy-4- (trifluoromethyl)coumarin, Julolidine, 5 -Methoxypsoralen, 2-Methylanthracene, Pentacene, Perylene-3,4,9, lO-tetracarboxylic dianhydride, Phenanthrene, 9,10- Phenanthrenequinone, Phenanthridine, Phenanthridine, Phenazine, Pyrene, I -Pyrenebutyric acid, 1-Pyrenecarboxaldehyde, l-Pyrenecarboxylic acid, Quinizarin, Rubrene, trans-Stilbene, p-Terphenyl, 1,1,4,4-Tetraphenyl-I,3-butadiene, 4,4,4-Trifluoro-I -(2-naphthyl)-I,3-hutanedione. The Electroluminescent material may comprise, hut not limited to, zinc sulfide doped with copper (producing greenish light) or silver (producing bright blue light), zinc sulfide doped with manganese (producing orange-red color), naturally blue diamond, which includes a trace of boron that acts as a dopant.

Semiconductors containing Group Hi and Group V elements, such as indium phosphide (inP), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN), organic semiconductors, such as [Ru(bpy)3]2+(PF6-)2, where bpy is 2,2'-bipyridine.

The DPP layer serves three functions. Firstly, it provides an insulating harder hetween base layer and the dispersed semi-conductive phosphor and top electrode. Secondly it provides additional light emitting qualities due to the presence of the photoluminescent material. Thirdly, the photo refractive qualities of the select dielectric material may he utilized to facilitate the propagation of light through superimposed layers of the EL lamp.

A non-limiting example material having photo refractive properties is titanium dioxide.

The phosphor is a semi-conductive particle dispersion comprised of a material (typically metal-doped Zinc Sulfide (ZnS)) encapsulated within a highly electrostatically permeable polymer matrix. When excited by the presence of an alternating electrostatic field generated by an AC signal, the doped ZnS absorbs energy from the field, which it in turn re-emits as a visible-light photon upon returning to its ground state. The phosphor serves two functions. Firstly, while the metal-doped Zinc Sulfide phosphor is technically classed as a semiconductor, when encapsulated within the binder carrier matrix, it further effectively provides an additional insulating harrier between the base layer and the superimposed top electrode. In addition, once excited by the presence of an alternating electromagnetic field, the phosphor particles emit visible light.

The photo fluorescent material is a non-conductive dye that is impregnated into the dialectic material and serves the function of amplifying' the light output.

Preferably, an aqueous-based styrene acrylic hinder carrier solution or water latex or alcohol latex (hereafter "binder carrier") is utilized as an encapsulating matrix for the DPP layer. This material is suitable for close-proximity and long-term contact without adverse impact to the environment.

During production of the EL lamp, after volatile components of the binder carrier solution of the DPP layer have been eliminated (typically by evaporation) during a curing process, the resultant coatings are largely chemically inert. As such, the DPP does not readily react chemically with the under-or over-lying layers and, as a result, encapsulates and protects the homogeneous coated dielectric and phosphor particles within the layer.

The top electrode is a film coating layer that is preferably both electrically conductive and generally transparent to light. The top electrode may be from such materials as, without limitation, metal suspensions, graphite suspensions, doped conductive oxide suspension, graphene suspension, carhon nanotuhe suspension or a metal plating, example types of metal plating include, without limitation, electroless plating, vacuum metalizing, vapor deposition and sputtering, or foil covering, conductive polymers etc. In some embodiments of the present invention it may he desirable for base layer electrode layer to be generally transparent. In such cases any of the materials discussed above for top electrode may be utilized for the base layer electrode layer.

The efficiency of the top electrode materials results from a compromise between operating requirements; that of both being electrically conductive while also being sufficiently transparent to the generated light output. Generally, as the area of the lit field of an EL lamp becomes larger, a point of diminishing returns is reached wherein the thickness of the top electrode layer to achieve a sufficiently low resistivity for the necessary voltage distribution across the top electrode layer becomes too thick or the thickness of the top electrode becomes too inefficient. This can he ameliorated by augmenting the transparent top electrode layer by providing a relatively low-impedance strip of conductive material as close to the lit field at possible.

Once applied, the EL structure is sLlsceptihle to damage due to scratches or marking. It is therefore, preferable, bLit not essential, to encapsulate the EL structure with a protectie clear film layer. This encapsulating layer may be comprised of any number of aqueous, enamel or lacquer-based products.

Unlike print-based EL production processes, this process EL lamps to be "painted" onto substrate as a stackup of conformal coats comprising at a minimum A base conductive layer

ADPP

A sufficiently transparent top conductive layer Should the substrate be conductive then all that is required is the application of

ADPP

A sufficiently transparent top conductive layer Additional layers may or may not be used as required, including but not limited to, A primer layer A clear coat protective layer It should be understood that the term layer refers to the completed film that may or may not require several passes of the application method in order to build up a sufficient For each EL lit field on a given surface, two electrical connections are provided at to provide a pathway for the AC signal that excites the DPP layer. There are two basic mechanisms for installing these electrical pathways, the selection of which is determined by the characteristics of the substrate of the target item. For non-conductive plastic, fiberglass or composite target item substrates, it is preferable to provide one or more conductive elements, such as wires via small openings in the substrate.

For some forms of conductive substrate the above technique is also effective, given the inclusion of an insulating sheath 34 between the substrate and the signal pathway. This is both a practical and a safety consideration, as the electrical current demand placed on the system by needlessly energizing the substrate/target item significantly reduces the power consumption efficiency of the system as a whole and increases safety by electrically isolating the EL lamp field from a conductive substrate of the target item and any pathways to a ground state, such as a defect in the substrate of the target item.

When structural or practical considerations prohibit using the aforementioned technique signal paths to the EL lit field may be provided by embedding conductive elements like copper tapes within an insulating primer layer.

The physical applications of the layer follow the normal practices and procedures of any person so skilled in the art. The number of coats required is determined by the uniformity of the distribution of the material, as well as specific local conductivity.

In some embodiments of the present invention the EL lamp may include additional features to manipulate the apparent color emitted by the lamp. In one such embodiment a pigment-tinted overcoat can be applied, or different phosphors can be utilized or different combinations of phosphor and photol uminescent additive.

The particulate components of the DPP layer exhibit properties of optical translucence to light at visible wavelengths. As a result, it is possible to directly superimpose layers of the DPP material, to take advantage of these properties. By alternatively or coincidentally energizing the respective layers, substantial modification of apparent color is achievable.

Examples

The coating compositions were prepared by adding and reacting the following parts, by Weight.

EL Coating Composition -binder carrier system 65g, EL Phosphor Dielectric Photoluminescent Additive 35g Conductive Coating Composition -binder carrier system 50g, Electro Conductive Additive SOg Preferably, a water-based styrene acrylic binder carrier solution (hereafter binder carrier) is utilized. This material is suitable for close-proximity and long-term contact without adverse impact to the environment. There are many such binder carrier systems available on the market. A significant advantage of the binder carreir is that it provides a chemically benign and versatile bonding mechanism for a variety of sub-and top-coating options on the selected substrate.

An example of a suitable electroconductive additive is GCA333' supplied by RMS Graphite of Kent, England.

An example of a suitable EL Phosphor Dielectric Photoluminescent Additive is formed 2g of fluorescein dissolved in lOOmL of isopropanol alcohol to which 20g of titanium dioxide is added. The mixture is heated to 80 degrees centigrade and stirred under constant agitation until the alcohol is evaporated. To this lOg of copper doped zinc sulphide is added and 2OmL of water is added and the mixture is ground in a Retsch KM! for 30 mins. After grinding the mixture is passed through a 3 roil mill 5 times to ensure adequate mixing.

For the EL coating composition, 35 grains of the EL Phosphor Dielectric Photoluminescent Additive were dispersed under normal agitation being subjected to 4 minutes of a shaker grinder to ensure that the Dielectric Additive component was suitably dispersed in the hinder carrier For the conductive coating composition, 5ft0 grams of the Electroconductive Additive component were dispersed into 50.0 grains of the binder carrier component using a 3-roll mill. Subsequently, a 2 mil wet draw down of the conductive coating composition was conducted on glass. After thorough air-drying, a conductive film layer was formed, and the conductivity and visual transparency of the conductive film layer were evaluated. The conductivity was 160 ohms per square, and the visual transparency was evaluated as acceptable.

Example 1, the EL coating composition, prepared as described above, was spray applied to a 0.7 mil film build on an aluminum panel that acted as the conductive base layer. The EL coating composition was air dried to form the EL film layer, and then the conductive coating composition, prepared as described above, was spray applied to a 0.7 mil film build on the EL film layer. The conductive coating composition was air dried to form the conductive film layer and the EL coating system of Example 1 was complete.

Electrical leads from a 240 volt AC power supply, were connected to the aluminum panel and to the conductive film layer, respectively. Upon application of the electrical chaiges to the aluminum panel and the conductive film layer, a very strong degree of electroluminescence was visually evaluated.

Example 2, a pretreated panel was used. The pretreated panel was a steel panel pre-primed with a non-conductive primer coating composition. The conductive coating composition, prepared as described above, was spray applied to a 0.7 mil film build on the pretreated panel. The conductive coating composition was air dried to form the first conductive film layer. The EL coating composition, prepared as described above, was spray applied to a 0.7 mil film build on the first conductive layer. The EL coating composition was air dried to form the EL film layer, and then the conductive coating composition, prepared as described above, was spray applied to a 0.7 mil film build on the EL film layer. The conductive coating composition was air dried to form the conductive film layer and the EL coating system of Example 2 was complete.

Electrical leads from a 240 volt AC power supply, were connected to the first conductive layer and to the second conductive film layer, respectively. Upon application of the electrical charges to the aluminum panel and the conductive film layer, a very strong degree of elecflluminescence was visually evaluated.

While this invention has been shown and described with respect to a detailed embodiment thereof, it will he understood by those skilled in the art that changes in form a and detail thereof may he made without departing from the scope of the claims of the invention.

Claims

Claims What is claimed is: 1. A process involving a combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer for producing a conformal electroluminescent system, comprising the steps of: selecting a substrate: applying a base film layer upon the substrate using an water-based, electrically conductive material; applying a combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer upon the back film layer using an water-based dielectric, phosphor, photol uminescent material; applying an electrode film layer upon the combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent film layer using an water-based, sufficiently transparent, electrically conductive electrode material, the back layer, combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer, and electrode film layer each being applied by spray conformal coating; and further including the step of formulating a composition for the combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent film layer, comprising: providing a photo luminescent additive providing a dielectric additive; and providing a phosphor additive, wherein the phosphor film layer is excitable by an electrical field established across the phosphor film layer upon application of an electrical charge between the back film layer and the electrode film layer such that the phosphor film layer emits electroluminescent light which further excites the photoluminescent material to emit light.
2. The process of claim I, further including the step of selecting a dielectric material having both electrically insulative and permittive properties, the dielectric material further comprising at least one of a titanate, an oxide, a niobate, an aluminate, a tantalate, and a zirconate material.
3. The process of claim I, further including the step of coating a dielectric material with a photoluminescent material selected from but not limited to Lumisol, fluorescence, 1,2- Bis(2-Aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N,N'-tetraacetic acid, 2-tert-Butylanthraquinone, 3,8- Diamino-6-phenylphenanthridine, 2,6-Diethylnaphthalene, 5,8-Dihydroxy-1,4- naphthoquinone, 9,1 0-Diphenylanthracene, 2,3-Diphenylmaleic anhydride, 6,13-Diphenylpentacene, 2-Ethylanthraquinone, 7-Hydroxy-4-(trifiuoromethyl)coumarin, jLllolidine, 5-Methoxypsoralen, 2-Methylantliracene, Pentacene, Perylene-3,4,9, tO-tetracarboxylic dianhydride, Phenanthrene, 9, 10-Phenanthrenequinone, Phenanthridine, Phenauthridiue, Phenazine, Pyrene, 1-Pyrenebutyric acid, 1-Pyrenecarboxaldehyde, I- Pyrenecarhoxylic acid, Quinizarin, Rubrene, trans-Stilbene, p-Terphenyl, 1,1,4,4-Tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene, 4,4,4-Trifluoro-1-(2-naphthyl)-1,3-butanedione.
4. The process of claim 1, further including the step of selecting a dielectric material having electrically insulative and permittive properties, the dielectric material further having photorefractive properties to facilitate the propagation of light through superimposed layers of the device and through the photoluminescent material.
5. The process of claim I, further including the step of selecting, for the phosphor material, a semi-conductive coating composition having phosphors encapsulated within a highly electrostatically permeable polymer matrix.
6. The process of claim I, further including the step of selecting, for the phosphor material, for example, but not limited to, zinc sulfide doped with copper (producing greenish light) or silver (produciug bright blue light), zinc sulfide doped with manganese (producing orange-red color), naturally blue diamond, which includes a trace of boron that acts as a dopant. Semiconductors containing Group III and Group V elements, such as indium phosphide (lnP), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN), orgauic semiconductors, such as [Ru(hpy)3]2+(PFb-)2, where hpy is 2,2'-hipyridine.
7. A process for producing a conformal electroluminesceut systeui, con prising the steps of: selecting a generally transparent substrate; applying au electrode film layer upon the substrate using au water-based, sufficiently transparent electrically conductive electrode material: applying a combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer upon the hack film layer using an water-based dielectric, phosphor, photol uminescent material; applying an electrode film layer upon the combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent film layer using an water-based, sufficiently transparent, electrically conductive electrode material, the back layer, combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer, and electrode film layer each being applied by spray conformal coating; and further including the step of formulating a composition for the combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent film layer, comprising: providing a photo luminescent additive providing a dielectric additive; and providing a phosphor additive, wherein the phosphor film layer is excitable by an electrical field established across the phosphor film layer upon application of an electrical charge between the back film layer and the electrode film layer such that the phosphor film layer emits electroluminescent light which further excites the photoluminescent material to emit light.
8. The process of claim 7, further including the step of selecting a dielectric material having both electrically insulative and permittive properties, the dielectric material fLirther comprising at least one of a titanate, an oxide, a niohate, an aluminate, a tantalate, and a zirconate material.
9. The process of claim 7, further including the step of coating a dielectric material with a photoluminescent material selected from but not limited to Lumisol, fluorescence, 1,2- Bis(2-Aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N,N'-tetraacetic acid, 2-cert-Butylanthraquinone, 3,8- Diamino-6-phenylphenanthridine, 2,6-Diethylnaphthalene, 5,8-Dihydroxy-1,4- naphthoquinone, 9,1 0-Diphenylanthracene, 2,3-Diphenylmaleic anhydride, 6,13-Diphenylpentacene, 2-Ethylanthraquinone, 7-Hydroxy-4-(trifluoromethyl)coumarin, jLllolidine, 5-Methoxypsoralen, 2-Methylantliracene, Pentacene, Perylene-3,4,9, tO-tetracarboxylic dianhydride, Phenanthrene, 9, 10-Phenanthrenequinone, Phenanthridine, Phenanthridine, Phenazine, Pyrene, 1-Pyrenebutyric acid, 1-Pyrenecarboxaldehyde, I- Pyrenecarhoxylic acid, Quinizarin, Rubrene, trans-Stilbene, p-Terphenyl, 1,1,4,4-Tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene, 4,4,4-Trifluoro-1-(2-naphthyl)-1,3-butanedione
10. The process of claim 7, further including the step of selecting a dielectric material having electrically insulative and permittive properties, the dielectric material further having photorefractive properties to facilitate the propagation of light through superimposed layers of the device and through the photoluminescent material.
11. The process of claim 7, further including the step of selecting, for the phosphor material, a semi-conductive coating composition having phosphors encapsulated within a highly electrostatically permeable polymer uiatri x.
12. The process of claim 7, further including the step of selecting, for the phosphor material, for example, but not limited to, zinc sulfide doped with copper (producing greenish light) or silver (producing bright blue light), zinc sulfide doped with manganese (producing orange-red color), naturally blue diamond, which includes a trace of boron that acts as a dopant. Semiconductors containing Group III and Group V elements, such as indium phosphide (lnP), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN), organic semiconductors, such as Ru(bpy)3j2-i-(PF6-)2, where bpy is 2,2-bipyridiue.
13. A process involving a combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer for producing a conformal electroluminescent system, comprising the steps of: selecting a substrate; applying a base film layer LIOfl the substrate using an water-based, electrically conductive material; applying a combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer upon the back film layer using an water-based dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent material; applying a second combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer upon the first combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer using an water-based dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent material such that the colour combination is different; applying an electrode film layer upon the combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent film layer using an water-based, sufficiently transparent, electrically conductive electrode material, the back layer, combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer, and electrode film layer each being applied by spray conformal coating; and further including the step of formulating a composition for the combined dielectric, phosphor, photoltiminescent film layer, comprising: providing a photo luminescent additive providing a dielectric additive; and providing a phosphor additive, wherein the phosphor film layer is excitable by an electrical field established across the phosphor film layer upon application of an electrical charge between the back film layer and the electrode film layer such that the phosphor film layer emits electroluminescent light which further excites the photoliiminescent material to emit light.
14. The process of claim 13, further including the step of selecting a dielectric material having both electrically insulative and permittive properties, the dielectric material further comprising at least one of a titanate, an oxide, a niohate, an aluminate, a tantalate, and a zirconate material.

I 5. The process of claim 13, further including the step of coating a dielectric material with a photoluminescent material selected from but not limited to Lumisol, fluorescence, l,2-Bis(2-Aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, 2-tert-Butylanthraquinone, 3,8-Diamino-6-phenylphenanthridine, 2,6-Diethylnaphthalene, 5,8-Dihydroxy-i,4- naphthoquinone, 9,1 0-Diphenylanthracene, 2,3-Diphenylmaleic anhydride, 6,13-Diphenylpentacene, 2-Ethylanthraquinone, 7-Hydroxy-4-(trifiuoromethyl)coumarin, Julolidine, 5-Methoxypsoralen, 2-Methylanthracene, Pentacene, Perylene-3,4,9, 10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride, Phenanthrene, 9, lO-Phenanthrenequinone, Phenanthridine, Phenanthridine, Phenazine, Pyrene, 1-Pyrenehutyric acid, 1-Pyrenecarboxaldehyde, I- Pyrenecarboxylic acid, Quinizarin, Rubrene, trans-Stilbene, p-Terphenyl, 1,1,4,4-Tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene, 4,4,4-Trifluoro-1-(2-naphthyl)-I,3-butanedione !6 The process of claim 13, further including the step of selecting a dielectric material having electrically insulative and pernñttive properties, the dielectric material further having photorefractive properties to facilitate the propagation of light through sLiperimposed layers of the device and through the photoluminescent material.17. The process of claim 13, further including the step of selecting, for the phosphor material, a semi-conductive coating composition having phosphors encapsulated within a highly electrostatically permeable polynier niatrix 18-The process of claim 13, further including the step of selecting, for the phosphor material, for example, but not limited to, zinc sulfide doped with copper (producing greenish light) or silver (produchig bright blue light), zinc sulfide doped with manganese (producing orange-red color), naturally blue diamond, which includes a trace of boron that acts as a dopant. Semiconductors containing Group ITT and Group V elements, such as indium phosphide (InP), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (CaN), organic semicoilductors, such as Ru(bpy)3j2-i-(PF6-)2, where bpy is 2,2-bipyridille.19. A process involving a combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer for producing a conformal electroluminescent system, comprising the steps of: selecting a substrate suitable to form the conductive base layer applyillg a combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminesceilt layer upon the back film layer using an waler-based dielectric, phosphor, photoluirunescenL maLerial; applyhig a electrode film layer upon the combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent film layer using an water-based, sufficiently transparent, electrically conductive electrode material, the back layer, combined dielectric, phosphor, photoluminescent layer, axd electrode film layer each being applied by spray conformal coating; and further including the step of formulating a composition for the combined dielectric, phosphor, photoltiminescent film layer, comprising: providing a photo luminescent additive providing a dielectric additive; and providing a phosphor additive, wherein the phosphor film layer is excitable by a electrical field established across the phosphor film layer upon application of an electrical charge between the back film layer and the electrode film layer such that the phosphor film layer emits electroluminescent light which further excites the photoluminescent material to emit light.20. The process of claim 19, further including the step of selecting a dielectric material having both electrically rnsulative and permittive properties, the dielectric material further comprising at least one of a titanate, an oxide, a niobate, an aluminate, a tantalate, and a zirconate material.2i -The process of claim 19, further including the step of coating a dielectric material with a photoluminescent material selected from but not limited to Lumisol, fluorescence, I,2-Bis(2-Arninophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, 2-tert-Butylanthraquinone, 3,8-Diamino-6-phenylphenanthridine, 2,6-Diethylnaphthalene, 5,8-Dihydroxy-1,4- naphthoquinone, 9,1 0-Diphenylanthracene, 2,3-Diphenylmaleic anhydride, 6,13-Diphen ylpentacene, 2-Ethylanthraquinone, 7-Hydroxy-4-(trifl uoromethyl)coumarin, Julolidine, 5-Methoxypsoralen, 2-Methylantliracene, Pentacene, Perylene-3,4,9, 10-tenacarboxylic dianhydride, Phenanthrene, 9, 10-Phenanthrenequinone, Phenanthridine, Phenanthridine, Phenazine, Pyrene, I -Pyrenehutyric acid, I -Pyrenecarhoxaldehyde, I - Pyrenecarboxylic acid, Quinizarin, Rubrene, trans-Stilbene, p-Terphenyl, 1,1,4,4-Tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene, 4,4,4-Trifluoro-1-(2-naphthyl)-I,3-butanedione 22. The process of claim 19, further including the step of selecting a dielectric material having electrically insulative and permittive properties, the dielectric material further having photorefractive properties to facilitate the propagation of light through superimposed layers of the device and through the photoluminescent material.22. The process of claim 19, further including the step of selecting, for the phosphor material, a semi-conductive coating composition having phosphors encapsulated within a highly electrostatically permeable polymer matrix.23. The process of claim 19, further including the step of selecting, for the phosphor material, for example, but not limited to, zinc sulfide doped with copper (producing greenish light) or silver (producing bright blue light), zinc sulfide doped with manganese (producing orange-red color), naturally blue diamond, which includes a trace of boron that acts as a dopant. Semiconductors containing Group III and Group V elements, such as indium phosphide (lnP), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN), organic semiconductors, such as [Ru(hpy)3]2+(PFb-)2, where hpy is 2,2'-hipyridine.