Materials News

Printed electronics market in the race
With the global market for printed electronics set to grow to US$100 billion by 2020 and reach US$250 billion in five years, according to British market research company IDTechEx, it is no surprise that companies like Solvay and Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) are making investments in this market.

Solvay has invested US$4 million in a materials developer for the printed electronics market Polyera. The latter develops and commercialises organic semiconductors and dielectrics for organic thin-film transistors (OTFT) and organic photovoltaics (OPV), enabling applications such as flexible display backplanes, printed RFID tags and printed solar panels.

Printed electronics is an emerging industry that relies on printing technologies to manufacture electronic devices on thin, lightweight and flexible substrates - with plastics now among the leading materials being considered for these. Solvay has also invested in another US company, Plextronics, and in Norway's Thin Film Electronics.

BMS, on the other hand, has developed technology know-how and a wide range of materials for customers who print PC films with electronic functions and process these into 3D electronic components using the film insert moulding process. "This printed polymer electronics technology is seen as a next-generation technology for delivering cost-effective production of highly integrated, complex moulded electronic components," explains Dirk Pophusen, Head of Business Development for Functional Films in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

"We are looking to benefit from this with our film business and are committed to close collaboration with manufacturers of these electronic modules at all stages of component production. Our aim is to work together to develop customised solutions," says Pophusen.

Films offer various benefits in printed electronics. They can be printed in a limited space with several electronic functions such as wiring diagrams, actuators, sensors and antennae, which previously had to be applied as separate components. Integrating these functions therefore cuts the number of parts required and the amount of logistical and assembly work. This results in compact, ready-to-install "all-in-one" electronic modules that require a minimum of space, thus reflecting the trend toward miniaturization in electronics.

BMS has introduced recently a hard coat, thermoformable film. The basis for Makrofol HF's formability, which also enables narrow radii and high depths of draw, is that the scratch-resistant coating is only pre-cured and is not completely cured with standard UV lamps until forming is finished. The PC film produces surfaces with a deep gloss finish that are resistant to chemicals and abrasion. When working with 3D display elements, for example, they are ideal for increasingly popular high-gloss piano finishes in combination with "vanish-effect" technologies. These make the contours of light symbols appear to vanish when these are switched off (black panel technology).

Following the acquisition of Artificial Muscle, BMS also has the know-how to manufacture electrically activated, artificial muscles as actuators and sensors and integrate them into systems. For example, they make touchscreen fields "tangible" because they offer a tactile response when the display is touched. They are largely wear-resistant, unlike conventional mechanical buttons.

This creates considerable scope for use in areas such as manufacturing smart phones, games controllers and touchpads and automotive engineering. In conjunction with its partners, BMS has developed the prototype for a large, one-piece 3D central console that integrates features such as a capacitative and electrically activated switch as a central control element. As well as electronic elements, the light "function" can also be integrated into appropriate 3D film components using the film insert moulding (FIM) process. Conventional technologies with LEDs can also be used as a light source and so too can large-area electroluminescent systems. In conjunction with Add-Vision, for example, BMS is currently working on printing flexible, polymer organic LEDs onto PC films. A bright future is forecast for these P-OLEDs in areas producing displays, for instance.

BMS also develops conductive and formable nano inks for use in areas such as printed electronics under the BayInk name. These can be applied digitally using conventional printing technology such as the ink-jet method. Depending on the process, it is possible to apply line widths with a resolution of less than 30 micrometers that are no longer visible to the human eye. This enables conductor tracks, contacts and electrodes to be applied much more easily and effectively than with conventional methods, which are mostly more complicated and more energy- and material-intensive. The inks adhere to a wide range of plastic films such as Makrofol and Bayfol and other flexible materials, as well as to rigid substrates. The range of applications is wide - for example, as invisible conductor tracks they can be used to simplify the complex design of touchscreens.