Henkel Adhesive Technologies strengthened its expertise in printed electronics by investing in Copprint Technologies Ltd., Israel. The advanced materials start-up has developed a novel technology for producing conductive copper inks that can provide substantial cost benefits for a variety of printed electronics applications.
 
“Copprint has developed a superior copper-based ink technology that has the potential to replace silver-based ink methods and to enable new cost sensitive applications,” said Paolo Bavaj, head of corporate venturing at Henkel Adhesive Technologies.
 
Based on the increasing demand for printed electronics, the market for conductive inks is constantly growing and copper-based technologies have the potential to significantly reduce costs. Today almost all solutions are still silver-based due to technical challenges such as copper oxidation and expensive production processes.
 
Copprint was founded in 2016 with the goal to disrupt the conductive ink market. The start-up has demonstrated that its copper ink can be applied in a simplified sintering process without oxidation. The technology has already achieved technical product qualifications for printed RFID antennas. The technology has the potential to be used in a broad variety of applications such as next-generation photovoltaics, 3D printed electronics, RFID and NFC antennas, wearables and smart clothing.
 
“We very much appreciate Henkeĺs confidence in our patented disruptive conductive copper inks,” said Ofer Shochet, CEO of Copprint. “The investment will allow us to scale up the production and to expand our product lines and application support by collaborating with Henkel’s experts for printed electronics.”