LG Innotek develops advanced ferrite for slimmer TVs, lighter EVs

LG Innotek, the high-tech parts making unit of LG Group, said Wednesday the company has developed a “highly efficient” ferrite material to be used for ultra slim TVs and vehicles.

Ferrite, made of iron oxide power, is used to change voltage in power modules for TVs and on board chargers in vehicles.

As home appliances including TVs and electric vehicles go slimmer and lighter, the ferrite has become a viable material.

LG’s ferrite can make power modules for TVs as thin as 9 millimeters -- the thinnest in the world so far -- which could ultimately reduce thickness of TVs by about 60 percent. A 65-inch organic light-emitting diode TV could be as thin as 20 mm or less.

The material would also make TVs more energy-efficient as it is designed to raise the power module’s energy efficiency by 5 percentage points. LG’s product features up to 40 percent improvement in energy losses compared to exiting ferrite materials, especially in temperatures between minus 40 degrees Celsius and 140 degrees Celsius.

Also in electric vehicles, the LG ferrite can reduce the weight and volume of the direct current to direct current converter by 10 percent and increase energy efficiency by 1.2 percentage points.

The LG affiliate also said it has successfully developed the material in one year and four months, which is a relatively short period of time compared to competitors that are mostly from Japan.

“The company could complete the development owing to LG’s unique digital transformation and artificial intelligence-based design solution for new materials in order to catch up with Japanese companies,” explained a company official.

LG plans to mass produce the new material in the first half of next year with an aim to supply global electronics makers and automakers.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)