Printability, Compatibility and Electrical Performance of Functional Inks Printed on Flexible Substrates

Details:

Year: 2009
Pages: 16

Summary:

The field of printed electronics has become a widely researched area with some applications already entering the market. Applications that could benefit by employing traditional printing processes for electronic manufacturing include printed organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) for display and lighting applications, printed batteries and memory devices, solar cells, sensors, smart labels and radio frequency identification (RFID) and a wide range of low-cost electronic components and products. For successful roll-to-roll production of low cost electronics by printing, there is a need for compatible solution processable functional materials and flexible substrates. Cellulous substrates offer flexible character; they are cost-effective, readily available and are environmentally friendly. However, using paper as a substrate for printed electronics might be a challenging task. In this work, various flexible substrates, including paper and polymer film, were employed as a base for the printing of functional materials such as conductors, semiconductors and dielectrics. Printed features were evaluated in terms of printed quality and electrical performance.