How do you envision next-gen electronics? Researchers are hoping it would be rigid-free, component-free, bendable and flexible, and of course, easily integrable with different material. As such, direct-write printing techniques provide the opportunity to advance electronics and bring the vision to reality.
How, so? Through the use of nanomaterial that is often called functional inks, that can be designed to fit diverse functionalities and substrates like textiles or plastic.
The technology is known as Printed Electronics (PE) which is attractive for its use in different applications, learn more:
"Through this paper, we have tried to fill the existing void in literature by discussing techniques, material inks, ink properties, post processing, substrates and application to provide a complete guide. PE is an industry relevant technology and the gateway to future portable electronics, where advanced printers can print complex circuits on any material," says Assistant Professor Shweta Agarwala, an expert in PE at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Aarhus University.
To keep the research community abreast with the latest technological advancements in the area of Findings were published in the scientific journal Advanced Materials.
"PE offers a wide range of advantages over conventional lithography-based technologies. It provides much more production flexibility, it is cheaper and far simpler. More importantly, it opens up a plethora of new possibilities to print flexible electrical circuits directly onto a wide range of substrates such as plastics, papers, clothes, and quite literally any other planar and non-planar surfaces. The research area is moving forwards fast, and this publication provides an overview of how far we have progressed today," says Hamed Abdolmaleki, a PhD student and first author of the paper.
Source: Science Daily
