David Savastano, Editor05.07.13
There is much work being conducted on materials research in the field of printed electronics (PE). From conductive inks and adhesives to substrates and encapsulants, universities, research institutes and companies alike are developing new materials to improve performance of PE.
Some promising developments in conductive nanoinks are coming from Okayama University in Japan, where a team led by assistant professor Dr. Masayuki Kanehara has created its Ambient Conductive Metal Nanoink, a technology to print conductive film under ambient condition processes without the post-treatment like annealing.
Ambient Conductive Metal Nanoink caught the eye of the panel of judges for IDTechEx’s Printed Electronics Europe 2013’s awards. As a result of its research, Okayama University received the Best Technical Development Materials Award, and Dr. Kanehara and his colleagues have formed Colloidal Ink Co., Ltd. to further develop its technology.
Dr. Kanehara said the roots of the ambient conductive metal nanoink dates back to doctoral research he conducted nearly a decade ago.
“In 2004, I started work on the pi-junction when I was a doctoral student,” Dr. Kanehara said. “Pi-junction is a completely new but universal element. Pi-junction forms strong orbital hybridization between metal and organic pi systems that leads to the metalization of organic pi orbitals on metal nanoparticles. Thus, the contact between the pi-junction nanoparticles shows quite effective carrier transport.
“The structure of pi-junction metal nanoparticles seemed to greatly improve the carrier transport between nanoparticles,” he added. “I was not sure about the approach at that time, but now we can make the ambient conductive metal nanoink from gold and silver. Ambient conductive metal nanoink forms the metallic film just after drying on any kinds of substrates without annealing (ambient process).”
Low temperature processing is indispensable for plastic substrates. With the ability to print under ambient conditions, Dr. Kanehara sees numerous opportunities for electroconductive nanoinks, including metal, semiconductor and conductive oxide.
“I think conventional metal nanoink has three problems,” Dr. Kanehara observed. “The first is high temperature annealing. The second is weak film strength and adhesion to a substrate after annealing. The third problem is the instability of the ink during the storage. Our ambient conductive metal nanoink can totally solve the problems.”
Colloidal Ink started to supply its material in March 2013, and is beginning to promote its material globally. Dr. Kanehara sees good possibilities for Ambient Conductive Metal Nanoink in the coming years.
“Only we have a stable nanoink without post-treatment such as annealing,” Dr. Kanehara added. “For example, alternative ITO film (conductive transparent film), disposable biosensing tips and tags will be fabricated on inexpensive substrates such as paper, PET and polycarbonate (PC) in the near future. Five or 10 years from now, I hope our material will be used as printed electrode on EL, displays and solar cells.”
Some promising developments in conductive nanoinks are coming from Okayama University in Japan, where a team led by assistant professor Dr. Masayuki Kanehara has created its Ambient Conductive Metal Nanoink, a technology to print conductive film under ambient condition processes without the post-treatment like annealing.
Ambient Conductive Metal Nanoink caught the eye of the panel of judges for IDTechEx’s Printed Electronics Europe 2013’s awards. As a result of its research, Okayama University received the Best Technical Development Materials Award, and Dr. Kanehara and his colleagues have formed Colloidal Ink Co., Ltd. to further develop its technology.
Dr. Kanehara said the roots of the ambient conductive metal nanoink dates back to doctoral research he conducted nearly a decade ago.
“In 2004, I started work on the pi-junction when I was a doctoral student,” Dr. Kanehara said. “Pi-junction is a completely new but universal element. Pi-junction forms strong orbital hybridization between metal and organic pi systems that leads to the metalization of organic pi orbitals on metal nanoparticles. Thus, the contact between the pi-junction nanoparticles shows quite effective carrier transport.
“The structure of pi-junction metal nanoparticles seemed to greatly improve the carrier transport between nanoparticles,” he added. “I was not sure about the approach at that time, but now we can make the ambient conductive metal nanoink from gold and silver. Ambient conductive metal nanoink forms the metallic film just after drying on any kinds of substrates without annealing (ambient process).”
Low temperature processing is indispensable for plastic substrates. With the ability to print under ambient conditions, Dr. Kanehara sees numerous opportunities for electroconductive nanoinks, including metal, semiconductor and conductive oxide.
“I think conventional metal nanoink has three problems,” Dr. Kanehara observed. “The first is high temperature annealing. The second is weak film strength and adhesion to a substrate after annealing. The third problem is the instability of the ink during the storage. Our ambient conductive metal nanoink can totally solve the problems.”
Colloidal Ink started to supply its material in March 2013, and is beginning to promote its material globally. Dr. Kanehara sees good possibilities for Ambient Conductive Metal Nanoink in the coming years.
“Only we have a stable nanoink without post-treatment such as annealing,” Dr. Kanehara added. “For example, alternative ITO film (conductive transparent film), disposable biosensing tips and tags will be fabricated on inexpensive substrates such as paper, PET and polycarbonate (PC) in the near future. Five or 10 years from now, I hope our material will be used as printed electrode on EL, displays and solar cells.”