Printed Electronics: Disruptive and Breakthrough Technology Sector
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The technology area of “Printed Electronics” offers promise for a new line of foldable, rollable, edible, stretchable, biodegradable and paper-thin electronic devices. Printed electronics is an innovative technology area that uses established commercial printing techniques (such as ink-jet, and screen printing) with conductive inks to print electronic circuits on paper, plastic, and textile materials. The technique of printing electronic circuits, as opposed to manufacturing them, allows engineers to input and alter specifications of devices directly into a computer, which in turn prints them onto a thin and flexible substrate. A series of current projects are utilizing traditional silicon technology for their conductive inks, like the Silicon Valley startup Kovio, Inc. which is developing advanced R.F.I.D. and smart-display technologies. Others are using organic (car
bon-based) compounds like those used in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). The Dutch company Polymer Vision has used organic conductors to develop the world’s first rollable display, their Readius® pocket reader. The technology sector promises to be a highly disruptive one, drastically driving down the cost of electronics that use traditional manufactured silicon electronic circuitry. By mechanizing and standardizing production the world may see electronics with exponentially more applications than, and at a fraction of the cost of, current consumer products. Printed Electronics also has a slew of potential breakthrough applications. Self-adjusting text (like that used in Polymer Vision’s Readius®) could produce a line of self-changing advertisements which could revolutionize the field of advertising. Avanced Radio Frequency Identification, R.F.I.D, could lead to smart I.D. cards for next-generation building or home-security. And edible and wearable electronics could lead to a line of non-invasive diagnostic tools for doctors.
The printed battery is one of the most exciting applications of the printed electronics ecosystem. These paper-thin and eventually inexpensive energy-storing devices have the potential to affect the entire consumer electronics market, a $135 billion market in 2006, and projected to reach $158 billion in 2008. Thin Battery Technologies, Inc., is a leader in the field in the creation of a reliable printed Battery. An Ohio company founded in January 2003 to commercialize and progress printed battery research, Thin Battery Technologies was funded by private investors led by Early Stage Partners. The company was built upon acquired intellectual property, the result of 5 years of R&D at Eveready Battery company. Thin Battery Technologies uses Carbon-Zinc electrolyte solutions for their battery printing, which is more resistant to extreme temperatures and more environmentally safe than competing magnesium alloy solutions. The use of printed batteries offers the promise of cheaper and smaller devices than have ever been produced, and could change the face of the entire $158 billion consumer electronics market.
Contributors: Nicholas A. Martin
bon-based) compounds like those used in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). The Dutch company Polymer Vision has used organic conductors to develop the world’s first rollable display, their Readius® pocket reader. The technology sector promises to be a highly disruptive one, drastically driving down the cost of electronics that use traditional manufactured silicon electronic circuitry. By mechanizing and standardizing production the world may see electronics with exponentially more applications than, and at a fraction of the cost of, current consumer products. Printed Electronics also has a slew of potential breakthrough applications. Self-adjusting text (like that used in Polymer Vision’s Readius®) could produce a line of self-changing advertisements which could revolutionize the field of advertising. Avanced Radio Frequency Identification, R.F.I.D, could lead to smart I.D. cards for next-generation building or home-security. And edible and wearable electronics could lead to a line of non-invasive diagnostic tools for doctors.The printed battery is one of the most exciting applications of the printed electronics ecosystem. These paper-thin and eventually inexpensive energy-storing devices have the potential to affect the entire consumer electronics market, a $135 billion market in 2006, and projected to reach $158 billion in 2008. Thin Battery Technologies, Inc., is a leader in the field in the creation of a reliable printed Battery. An Ohio company founded in January 2003 to commercialize and progress printed battery research, Thin Battery Technologies was funded by private investors led by Early Stage Partners. The company was built upon acquired intellectual property, the result of 5 years of R&D at Eveready Battery company. Thin Battery Technologies uses Carbon-Zinc electrolyte solutions for their battery printing, which is more resistant to extreme temperatures and more environmentally safe than competing magnesium alloy solutions. The use of printed batteries offers the promise of cheaper and smaller devices than have ever been produced, and could change the face of the entire $158 billion consumer electronics market.
Contributors: Nicholas A. Martin
