Smart packaging is retail ready

Dan Rogers - 31 Jul 2011

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Smart packaging technology based on graphene conductive ink is set to reach US retail shelves in early 2012, as this segment of the plastic electronics market begins to make an impact.

Graphene's possibilities overlap so much with the opportunities for plastic electronics, underlining how important a role the material could play in the future of printed and organic electronic products. Thanks to its properties - particularly its electrical conductivity - and the plentiful supply of carbon, graphene promises to be an integral part of the plastic electronics toolkit of the future.

'Graphene offers excellent conductivity, but there are other advantages over materials like silver in conductive inks: price is one, and flexibility is another - the materials can be wrinkled or crumpled without harming the function,' says Kristen Silverberg, COO of US firm Vorbeck, a developer of graphene conductive ink.

Using Vorbeck's conductive ink, US packaging firm MeadWestvaco has designed and produced a smart packaging label that envelops the product pack with a fully integrated circuit, in a product called Screampak.

Security

Two contact points are placed on the outside of the pack, allowing retailers to attach a thin and unobtrusive electronic module that completes the package's circuit. The module acts as a security tag: if it is removed, or the circuit is broken for any other reason, the electronic module will activate an alarm via an integrated speaker.

However the smart package allows retailers to integrate security simply and inexpensively, without compromising the design and accessibility of the brand owner's product.

One of the most significant barriers has been cost. Many packaging applications offer little room for manoeuvre with regards to additional cost per item, particularly where the electronics are disposed of after a product has been bought. With the commercialisation of graphene conductive ink, that situation has changed.

Want to read more?
This article appears in full in Volume 3, issue 6 of +Plastic Electronics magazine, a nanotechnology special. We speak to development partners Vorbeck, MeadWestvaco and Conductive Technologies, and discover how smart packaging is becoming cost-effectiveness.
To subscribe to +Plastic Electronics and get immediate access to this article, as well as online access to archive articles and a postal copy of the next six issues, visit our subscriptions page.