Halion
Halion has developed a novel liquid ink material that rapidly changes color when an electric field is applied, enabling full-color, video-capable reflective displays. The technology consumes 20x less power than an LCD and remains clearly visible in direct sunlight, making it suitable for outdoor signage, e-readers, and smart wearables. The ink can be applied to both opaque and transparent surfaces, extending its use to color-changing plastics.
- New Materials
- Chemical Technology
- Hardware
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Founder details are not available yet.
Product
Problem
Conventional display technologies such as LCDs consume significant power and struggle with sunlight readability, limiting their use in outdoor and battery-constrained applications. Reflective display alternatives often compromise on colour range, video capability, or refresh speed, preventing them from delivering engaging visual experiences in ambient lighting conditions.
Solution
Halion has developed a novel liquid ink material that rapidly changes colour when an electric field is applied. Charged particles carrying colour-changing molecules are pulled into contact or separated within milliseconds, enabling fast, low-power colour transitions. The ink can be applied between conductive substrates, including patterned TFT backplanes, to create displays that change colour only where an electric field is present. By stacking three layers of ink using a cyan, magenta, and yellow subtractive colour scheme, the technology produces any colour at over 60Hz refresh rates, delivering print-like colour quality that remains clearly visible in direct sunlight.
Target Audience
Primary customers are display manufacturers, consumer electronics companies, and material suppliers seeking energy-efficient, sunlight-readable display technology for outdoor signage, e-readers, smart wearables, and colour-changing product surfaces.
Features
- Liquid ink material that switches between two colours via an applied electric field, requiring very little power to change and even less to maintain the colour state
- Fast molecular interactions that complete colour transitions within milliseconds, supporting video-capable refresh rates above 60Hz
- Compatibility with simple conductive films or patterned TFT substrates, allowing selective colour changes and integration into custom display architectures
- Subtractive colour mixing using cyan, magenta, and yellow ink layers to produce a broad spectrum from black and white to rich hues
- Apply to both opaque and transparent surfaces, extending use beyond displays to colour-changing plastics
- Consumes 20x less power than an LCD, enabling battery-friendly display solutions across indoor and outdoor environments