Scientists in Sweden have created a low-cost, flexible and light-weight textile material that may be used in light-emitting clothing, signs and architecture. Their work shows that ultra-flexible light emission on large areas can be realised on very lightweight textile electrodes. Traditionally, this was hard to come by as these electrodes are typically quite rough. But the scientists have demonstrated that the light-emitting electrochemical cell's inherent fault tolerance is ideally suited for this type of transparent substrate.

The advantages of this new transparent fabric are its high flexibility, light weight, and low cost. The fabric electrode consists of a weave of silver-coated copper wires and polymer fibers that are embedded in a polymer matrix, all of which is coated with a conductive ink. The new textile emits highly uniform, bright yellow light for more than 180 hours, with the efficiency and luminescence increasing over time.

As of now, the most common transparent and flexible light-emitting device technology is the organic light-emitting diode (OLED), whose fabrication process involves expensive vacuum technology.

The light-emitting textile developed by researchers is made by spray-coating a light-emitting electrochemical cell onto a transparent fabric-based electrode, which results in a simpler and less expensive fabrication process compared to that used to make OLEDs.