Sources of cheaper conductive inks increase

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 17 May 2010

The printed circuit boad (PCB), solar and other industries are benefiting from increased sources and supplies of low-cost conductive inks.

The last 12 months have seen nanomaterials developers in the US, Europe and Asia succeed in producing commercial-grade nanocopper inks, with conductivity on par with silver and gold, at a fraction of the cost.

A market for low-cost, high-performance conductive inks is enabling the electronics industry to use additive printing in the manufacture of PCBs and also use plastic films as substrates to make circuits thinner, lighter and more flexible.

OEM suppliers of industrial inkjet machines are working with nanoinks suppliers to develop systems and materials for depositing thin conductive lines on cells. Amorphous silicon and other thin-film cells are fragile. Inkjet is a non-contact print process, so does not need to press onto structures to deposit inks or materials.

Additive process

Additive printing processes - when only materials that contribute to the final circuit are deposited - could be a long-term replacement for standard PCB manufacture, which uses etching and multiple steps to build up circuitry - the by-product of which is tonnes of waste chemicals.

Nanoink developers such as Novacentrix and Applied Nanotech Inc (ANI) in the US, as well as Intrinsiq Materials in the UK, are some of several companies producing copper inks able to sinter in air for applications including RFID solar cell and display production.

Printing circuits on low-temperature substrates could also open up new product areas, such as smart packaging and low-cost, disposable sensor applications.

The role of nanomaterials in printed and plastic electronics is the topic of an in-depth series of features in Volume 3, issue 1 of +Plastic Electronics magazine. To sign up in time for your copy of the next issue visit our subscriptions page, or email publications@pira-international.com to find out more.