David Savastano, Editor10.16.13
The National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers’ (NAPIM) annual National Printing Ink Research Institute (NPIRI) Technical Conference focuses its attention on new technologies and trends, and the 2013 conference, held at the Chicago Hilton at Indian Lakes, Bloomingdale, IL, from Oct. 2-4, was no exception.
Printed electronics was a key topic at this year’s conference, with a panel on conductive held during the closing session, titled “New Technology Innovations,” on Oct. 4.
The Conductive Ink Panel, which I led, focused on opportunities for printed electronics are reaching commercialization, and selecting the right material for conductive inks is critical. I was joined on the panel by Darren Bianchi, president of NanoGap USA; Richard Morris, business development, Saxby Business Development, representing Si-Cal Inc., PChem Associates and TouchCode.
I reported that printing is starting to replace traditional electronics manufacturing content and open the door to a significant amount of new product development in fields ranging from displays and sensors to RFID tags and smart packaging.
Bianchi’s topic was “Silver Nanoparticles and Nanofibers for Conductive Inks and Transparent Conductive Films.”
NanoGap develops, manufactures and sells novel nanomaterials, largely in dispersion form for industries and applications including coatings and inks, plastics and composites, textiles and biomedical. Its nanoparticles have properties that include conductive, anti-microbial, magnetic, fluorescent and catalytic.
Bianchi noted that there are key market drivers, such as developing ways to print on inexpensive substrates and finding an alternative to sputtered ITO. There are also market barriers, such as cost and technical aspects, but these concerns are being overcome. He concluded with a look at the CLIP (Conductive Low Cost Ink Project) ink development achievements, which has worked with screen, flexo, inkjet and aerosol jet inks.
“Potential cost savings in inkjet and aerosol jet printing are achievable through more efficient use of silver (level of conductivity achieved from weight of silver deposited) as a result of performance improvements,” Bianchi noted.
“Nanoparticle-based inks for printed electronics have been one of the many over-hyped areas of nanotechnology, with the market growth failing to meet expectations over the last 10-20 years,” Bianchi concluded. “However, there are now good signs on the commercial uptake of nanoparticle-based inks.
“Innovation is solving technical problems and leading to improved products, such as stable nano inks that are efficient (resistivity), and with high conductivity, and are low temperature sintering,” Bianchi added. “Cost issues are being addressed; with commercial uptake and scale-up, cost will fall and competitive position will rise, and supply chain collaborations and strategic partnerships are key to success.”
In his presentation on “Conductive Inks and Printing,” Morris noted that printed electronics can be defined as the printing of flexible electronic layers, components and circuits. The printed systems are often disposable, and are conformable, robust and light weight. They typically run on low power, and are often based on low temperature, inexpensive films.
Currently, printed electronics are produced by hybrid systems, by attaching conventional electronic components, but in the future, multiple elements and components will be printed in line.
Morris spoke of the benefits of nano inks, such as lower cost, more efficient use of metals, material reduction, process advantage and lower processing temperature, which allows for lower cost substrates, including PVC. Nano inks provide finer resolution and less that 25 micron features. He also showed some new products in the field, including the EKG Glove and touchcode.
David Savastano of Printed Electroncs Now. |
The Conductive Ink Panel, which I led, focused on opportunities for printed electronics are reaching commercialization, and selecting the right material for conductive inks is critical. I was joined on the panel by Darren Bianchi, president of NanoGap USA; Richard Morris, business development, Saxby Business Development, representing Si-Cal Inc., PChem Associates and TouchCode.
I reported that printing is starting to replace traditional electronics manufacturing content and open the door to a significant amount of new product development in fields ranging from displays and sensors to RFID tags and smart packaging.
Bianchi’s topic was “Silver Nanoparticles and Nanofibers for Conductive Inks and Transparent Conductive Films.”
Darren Bianchi of NanoGap USA. |
Bianchi noted that there are key market drivers, such as developing ways to print on inexpensive substrates and finding an alternative to sputtered ITO. There are also market barriers, such as cost and technical aspects, but these concerns are being overcome. He concluded with a look at the CLIP (Conductive Low Cost Ink Project) ink development achievements, which has worked with screen, flexo, inkjet and aerosol jet inks.
“Potential cost savings in inkjet and aerosol jet printing are achievable through more efficient use of silver (level of conductivity achieved from weight of silver deposited) as a result of performance improvements,” Bianchi noted.
“Nanoparticle-based inks for printed electronics have been one of the many over-hyped areas of nanotechnology, with the market growth failing to meet expectations over the last 10-20 years,” Bianchi concluded. “However, there are now good signs on the commercial uptake of nanoparticle-based inks.
“Innovation is solving technical problems and leading to improved products, such as stable nano inks that are efficient (resistivity), and with high conductivity, and are low temperature sintering,” Bianchi added. “Cost issues are being addressed; with commercial uptake and scale-up, cost will fall and competitive position will rise, and supply chain collaborations and strategic partnerships are key to success.”
Richard Morris of Saxby Business Development. |
Currently, printed electronics are produced by hybrid systems, by attaching conventional electronic components, but in the future, multiple elements and components will be printed in line.
Morris spoke of the benefits of nano inks, such as lower cost, more efficient use of metals, material reduction, process advantage and lower processing temperature, which allows for lower cost substrates, including PVC. Nano inks provide finer resolution and less that 25 micron features. He also showed some new products in the field, including the EKG Glove and touchcode.