David Savastano, Editor11.22.19
Flexible and printed electronics applications are increasingly appearing in commercial applications every day, from wearables for healthcare to smart packaging, sensors, automotive tail lights and displays, flexible displays, photovoltaics and more, with more products coming fast through the pipeline.
The potential applications for the flexible and printed electronics industry appear to be virtually endless, and electronic and conductive inks are essential to this fast-growing technology. Estimates place the conductive ink field at $2.5 billion. To meet the needs of this growing field, conductive ink manufacturers are working on new high-tech materials.
These were some of the key takeaways from industry leaders during the Electronic and Conductive Inks Conference. The conference was held Oct. 17-18 at The Drake Hotel in Oak Brook, IL, in conjunction with the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers’ (NAPIM) annual NPIRI Technical Conference. It was co-sponsored by NAPIM and Rodman Media, publishers of Ink World Magazine and Printed Electronics Now.
The opening session of the conference was moderated by Lisa Fine of Ink Systems, Inc., and was a joint session with NPIRI. The session began with “The Technologist’s Guide to Printed Electronics,” the Keynote Talk given by Dr. Erika Rebrosova, electronic materials technology manager for Sun Chemical, Advanced Materials Group.
Dr. Rebrosova noted that rigid PCB solutions are still dominating the electronics market, but there is a clear trend of increasing use of flexible circuits in multiple markets.
“They are more conformable, easier to integrate and provide better performance to fit electronics and flexible applications,” Dr. Rebrosova added. “They are found in consumer electronics, human machine interfaces (HMI), automotive, wearables, medical electronics and lighting.”
She noted that printed flex primarily utilizes silver, is an additive process and can be used on many substrates.
“The basic value proposition for printed electronics (PE) is that by using additive processes, instead of subtractive processes, you can lower complexity and cost of manufacture and improve environmental impact,” Dr. Rebrosova pointed out. “Printed keyboards and heaters use this. PE also includes a lot of enabling technology for integration of electronics and adding new form factors and features.”
So why is printed electronics not more mainstream?
“Many expected silver flex technology to improve and deliver faster,” she said. “This is a high-tech era and crude systems are not exciting. There is also a lack of standardization.”
Hybrid electronics, combining printed and conventional silicon technologies, is proving to be a strong alternative.
“One misconception was that all of the components can be printed,” Dr. Rebrosova said. “As a result, expectations were overinflated. Not all circuit components can be printed – there is a need to work with rigid components, silicon ICs and batteries. Hybrid flex offers an opportunity to combine the benefits of both worlds and bridge cost and performance.”
“There are a lot of applications in hybrid electronics,” added Dr. Rebrosova said. “There are some successful applications – membrane and capacitive switches, glucose sensors, EL lighting , automotive sensors and heaters, RFID antennas, RFID/NFC sensors. Collaboration is key to move new technologies to commercialization. There are some ASTF standards for PTF inks, and some need to be adapted or developed.”
As for conductive inks, screenprinting still dominates the PE space, and inkjet is growing.
“We need better conductivity, finer lines and pitch, and new form factors – conformability, stretchability, 3D form factors, faster speed printing, and faster drying time,” she said. “The majority of conductive inks are solvent-based and thermally curable. UV conductive ink is a holy grail – there are some on the market but are used sporadically.”
Next up, Robert Waldrop, printed electronics business development and distribution manager, DuPont Advanced Materials, discussed “Stretching the Boundaries of Printed Electronics,” a look at the history of printed electronics.
Waldrop has been in the printed electronics field for 34 years, noting that DuPont was involved in the development of the first rear window defrosters using a silver grid for the Buick Riviera. He noted that screenprinted silver inks were developed by DuPont as far back as 1948.
“By 1961, we had developed screen printed resistors,” he added. “In 1984, Solamet PV metallization was introduced. By, we were working on printed biosensors for blood glucose monitoring. In 1998, we had developed our Luxprint screenprinted electroluminescent light and our Heatel printed heaters.”
Waldrop then focused on what is new, including wearables and in-mold electronics. For example, DuPont’s Intexar smart clothing technology can be found in Ralph Lauren jackets and wearables from Owlet and Wimu.
“In-mold electronics have up to 30% lower cost, but there is a hesitancy to change by OEMs. Appliances are capacitive touch rather than membrane switch now. In-mold electronics has been re-adopted in the automotive world – it’s in cars now. We think it is coming,” Waldrop said. “You need the supply chain to be able to meet the needs of Tier 1’s and OEMs.”
Casey Grenier, Ph.D., material scientist, R&D division of Tekscan, Inc., followed with “Applications for Tekscan’s Printed Force Sensor Technology, and the Inks That Make Them.”
Tekscan’s products are found in a wide range of products, from sensors in Dr. Scholl’s store kiosks and throttle handles for Johnson Marine motors. Dr. Grenier noted that Tekscan’s sensors are being embedded in medical devices, and are affordable, reliable, comfortable and easy to use.
“This is not a new technology. We’ve been around since 1981,” Dr. Grenier noted. “We have printed several million sensors and served 18,000 customers.”
The company uses screenprinting for its sensors.
“Screens are used to deposit layers of conductive, force sensitive and dielectric materials, down to 5 mil lines,” noted Dr. Grenier. “Our FlexiForce sensors are printed on Kapton. They are as accurate as they need to be, can be calibrated and are durable to well over one million cycles.”
Vikram Turkani, applications engineer at NovaCentrix, discussed the company’s Metalon copper inks in his talk on “Conductive Copper Inks and Non-Equilibrium Thermal Processing to Achieve Optimized Performance on Temperature Sensitive Substrates.”
He noted that NovaCentrix acquired Intrinsiq Material’s copper and copper oxide inks and pastes, adding that these inks can be printed with a variety of techniques, including inkjet, Aerosol Jet and screen-printing.
Chris Booher, chief marketing officer, ChemCubed, closed the joint session with his talk on “It’s More About the Ink Than You Think.”
Booher noted that every application ChemCubed has worked on has been different. “No two have been the same,” he added. “We do custom chemistries for UV curable nanocomposite and non-UV curable liquids across multiple 3D and digital printing technologies. Our customers are moving from traditional processes to advanced processes.”
Booher then focused on ElectroJet, ChemCubed’s nanoparticle-free silver conductive inks and dielectrics, as well as key advantages, such as component miniaturization and the ability to do proof of concepts fast.
“Market applications include printed circuitry, circuit boards, electronic packaging, displays, flexible hybrid electronics, wiring harnesses passive components, RFID, sensors, shielding and antennae applications, semiconductor manufacturing, PV and wearables,” he observed. “We are working with an aero-space customer on resistors and capacitors, and did proof of concept.
“It’s more about the ink than you think,” Booher added. “There are nanoparticle, silver paste/flake, carbon-based and particle-free options. Not all printers can run every ink. ElectroJet particle-free inks offer excellent adhesion to multiple substrates, low sintering temperatures at 80°C, with near bulk conductivity of 10 -8 resistivity. They work with Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Fuji Dimatix, Epson, Mimaki, IDS NanoJet and Optomec Aerosol Jet printers.
ChemCubed has also launched its own ElectroUV30 UV LED flatbed inkjet printer, which is a full turn-key system. “We are finding that we need to get people to go into the printing process so companies can do proof of concept,” Booher concluded.
Next year’s Electronic and Conductive Ink Conference will return to the Drake Hotel in Oak Brook, IL on Oct. 15-16, 2020. For more information, see www.printedelectronicink.com.
The potential applications for the flexible and printed electronics industry appear to be virtually endless, and electronic and conductive inks are essential to this fast-growing technology. Estimates place the conductive ink field at $2.5 billion. To meet the needs of this growing field, conductive ink manufacturers are working on new high-tech materials.
These were some of the key takeaways from industry leaders during the Electronic and Conductive Inks Conference. The conference was held Oct. 17-18 at The Drake Hotel in Oak Brook, IL, in conjunction with the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers’ (NAPIM) annual NPIRI Technical Conference. It was co-sponsored by NAPIM and Rodman Media, publishers of Ink World Magazine and Printed Electronics Now.
The opening session of the conference was moderated by Lisa Fine of Ink Systems, Inc., and was a joint session with NPIRI. The session began with “The Technologist’s Guide to Printed Electronics,” the Keynote Talk given by Dr. Erika Rebrosova, electronic materials technology manager for Sun Chemical, Advanced Materials Group.
Dr. Rebrosova noted that rigid PCB solutions are still dominating the electronics market, but there is a clear trend of increasing use of flexible circuits in multiple markets.
“They are more conformable, easier to integrate and provide better performance to fit electronics and flexible applications,” Dr. Rebrosova added. “They are found in consumer electronics, human machine interfaces (HMI), automotive, wearables, medical electronics and lighting.”
She noted that printed flex primarily utilizes silver, is an additive process and can be used on many substrates.
“The basic value proposition for printed electronics (PE) is that by using additive processes, instead of subtractive processes, you can lower complexity and cost of manufacture and improve environmental impact,” Dr. Rebrosova pointed out. “Printed keyboards and heaters use this. PE also includes a lot of enabling technology for integration of electronics and adding new form factors and features.”
So why is printed electronics not more mainstream?
“Many expected silver flex technology to improve and deliver faster,” she said. “This is a high-tech era and crude systems are not exciting. There is also a lack of standardization.”
Hybrid electronics, combining printed and conventional silicon technologies, is proving to be a strong alternative.
“One misconception was that all of the components can be printed,” Dr. Rebrosova said. “As a result, expectations were overinflated. Not all circuit components can be printed – there is a need to work with rigid components, silicon ICs and batteries. Hybrid flex offers an opportunity to combine the benefits of both worlds and bridge cost and performance.”
“There are a lot of applications in hybrid electronics,” added Dr. Rebrosova said. “There are some successful applications – membrane and capacitive switches, glucose sensors, EL lighting , automotive sensors and heaters, RFID antennas, RFID/NFC sensors. Collaboration is key to move new technologies to commercialization. There are some ASTF standards for PTF inks, and some need to be adapted or developed.”
As for conductive inks, screenprinting still dominates the PE space, and inkjet is growing.
“We need better conductivity, finer lines and pitch, and new form factors – conformability, stretchability, 3D form factors, faster speed printing, and faster drying time,” she said. “The majority of conductive inks are solvent-based and thermally curable. UV conductive ink is a holy grail – there are some on the market but are used sporadically.”
Next up, Robert Waldrop, printed electronics business development and distribution manager, DuPont Advanced Materials, discussed “Stretching the Boundaries of Printed Electronics,” a look at the history of printed electronics.
Waldrop has been in the printed electronics field for 34 years, noting that DuPont was involved in the development of the first rear window defrosters using a silver grid for the Buick Riviera. He noted that screenprinted silver inks were developed by DuPont as far back as 1948.
“By 1961, we had developed screen printed resistors,” he added. “In 1984, Solamet PV metallization was introduced. By, we were working on printed biosensors for blood glucose monitoring. In 1998, we had developed our Luxprint screenprinted electroluminescent light and our Heatel printed heaters.”
Waldrop then focused on what is new, including wearables and in-mold electronics. For example, DuPont’s Intexar smart clothing technology can be found in Ralph Lauren jackets and wearables from Owlet and Wimu.
“In-mold electronics have up to 30% lower cost, but there is a hesitancy to change by OEMs. Appliances are capacitive touch rather than membrane switch now. In-mold electronics has been re-adopted in the automotive world – it’s in cars now. We think it is coming,” Waldrop said. “You need the supply chain to be able to meet the needs of Tier 1’s and OEMs.”
Casey Grenier, Ph.D., material scientist, R&D division of Tekscan, Inc., followed with “Applications for Tekscan’s Printed Force Sensor Technology, and the Inks That Make Them.”
Tekscan’s products are found in a wide range of products, from sensors in Dr. Scholl’s store kiosks and throttle handles for Johnson Marine motors. Dr. Grenier noted that Tekscan’s sensors are being embedded in medical devices, and are affordable, reliable, comfortable and easy to use.
“This is not a new technology. We’ve been around since 1981,” Dr. Grenier noted. “We have printed several million sensors and served 18,000 customers.”
The company uses screenprinting for its sensors.
“Screens are used to deposit layers of conductive, force sensitive and dielectric materials, down to 5 mil lines,” noted Dr. Grenier. “Our FlexiForce sensors are printed on Kapton. They are as accurate as they need to be, can be calibrated and are durable to well over one million cycles.”
Vikram Turkani, applications engineer at NovaCentrix, discussed the company’s Metalon copper inks in his talk on “Conductive Copper Inks and Non-Equilibrium Thermal Processing to Achieve Optimized Performance on Temperature Sensitive Substrates.”
He noted that NovaCentrix acquired Intrinsiq Material’s copper and copper oxide inks and pastes, adding that these inks can be printed with a variety of techniques, including inkjet, Aerosol Jet and screen-printing.
Chris Booher, chief marketing officer, ChemCubed, closed the joint session with his talk on “It’s More About the Ink Than You Think.”
Booher noted that every application ChemCubed has worked on has been different. “No two have been the same,” he added. “We do custom chemistries for UV curable nanocomposite and non-UV curable liquids across multiple 3D and digital printing technologies. Our customers are moving from traditional processes to advanced processes.”
Booher then focused on ElectroJet, ChemCubed’s nanoparticle-free silver conductive inks and dielectrics, as well as key advantages, such as component miniaturization and the ability to do proof of concepts fast.
“Market applications include printed circuitry, circuit boards, electronic packaging, displays, flexible hybrid electronics, wiring harnesses passive components, RFID, sensors, shielding and antennae applications, semiconductor manufacturing, PV and wearables,” he observed. “We are working with an aero-space customer on resistors and capacitors, and did proof of concept.
“It’s more about the ink than you think,” Booher added. “There are nanoparticle, silver paste/flake, carbon-based and particle-free options. Not all printers can run every ink. ElectroJet particle-free inks offer excellent adhesion to multiple substrates, low sintering temperatures at 80°C, with near bulk conductivity of 10 -8 resistivity. They work with Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Fuji Dimatix, Epson, Mimaki, IDS NanoJet and Optomec Aerosol Jet printers.
ChemCubed has also launched its own ElectroUV30 UV LED flatbed inkjet printer, which is a full turn-key system. “We are finding that we need to get people to go into the printing process so companies can do proof of concept,” Booher concluded.
Next year’s Electronic and Conductive Ink Conference will return to the Drake Hotel in Oak Brook, IL on Oct. 15-16, 2020. For more information, see www.printedelectronicink.com.
