Swiss specialty chemicals firm Clariant International AG has acquired the nano-silver ink technology platform developed under the trademark Bayink from Germany-based Bayer Group.

“The acquisition will strengthen our portfolio of new materials for the electronics and energy markets”, said Christian Kohlpaintner, Member of the Executive Committee.

Inclusive in the transaction are the patents, know-how and materials related to Bayer’s nano-silver ink technology.

Nano-silver inks are printable on various substrates like polymers, glass, or silicon. They are applicable in a wide variety of emerging applications for printed electronics, including printed circuit boards, radio frequency identification devices (RFID) or photovoltaic panels. These special inks provide excellent conductivity by spending fewer amounts of precious metal using advanced printing technologies such as ink-jet or aerosol printing.

“Nano silver inks are an important step to develop a sustainable innovation platform for functional inks in addition to our product portfolio for printing inks which will provide unique solutions to our customers using our core competencies in surfactants and formulation technology”, said Frank Küber, Head of New Business Development at Clariant.

Clariant said that it further develop the inks and its applications by working closely with its existing customers and cooperation partners.