#printed electronics

The ink of the future in printed electronics

A research group led by Simone Fabiano at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Linköping University, has created an organic material with superb conductivity that doesn't need to be doped. They have achieved this by mixing two polymers with different properties.

In order to increase the conductivity of polymers, and in this way obtain higher efficiency in organic solar cells, light-emitting diodes and other bioelectronic applications, researchers have until now doped the material with various substances. Typically, this is done by either removing an electron or donating it to the semiconductor material with a dopant molecule, a strategy that increases the number of charges and thereby the conductivity of the material.

"We normally dope our organic polymers to improve their conductivity and the device performance. The process is stable for a while, but the material degenerates and the substances we use as doping agents can eventually leach out. This is something that we want to avoid at any cost in, for example, bioelectronic applications, where the organic electronic components can give huge benefits in wearable electronics and as implants in the body," says Associate Professor Simone Fabiano, head of the Organic Nanoelectronics group within the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linköping University.

Laser sintering optimized for printed electronics

Printed electronics use standard printing techniques to manufacture electronic devices on different substrates like glass, plastic films, and paper. Interest in this area is growing because of the potential to create cheaper circuits more efficiently than conventional methods. A new study by researchers at Soonchunhyang University in South Korea, published in AIP Advances, provides insights into the processing of copper nanoparticle ink with green laser light.

Kye-Si Kwon and his colleagues previously worked with silver nanoparticle ink, but they turned to copper (derived from copper oxide) as a possible low-cost alternative. Metallic inks composed of nanoparticles hold an advantage over bulk metals because of their lower melting points. Although the melting point of copper is about 1,083 degrees Celsius in bulk, according to Kwon, copper nanoparticles can be brought to their melting point at just 150 to 500 C—through a process called sintering. Then, they can be merged and bound together.

Kwon's group concentrates on photonic approaches for heating nanoparticles by the absorption of light. "A laser beam can be focused on a very small area, down to the micrometer level," explained Kwon and doctorate student Md. Khalilur Rahman. Heat from the laser serves two main purposes: converting copper oxide into copper and promoting the conjoining of copper particles through melting.

High-precision control of printed electronics

Printed electronic transistor circuits and displays in which the colour of individual pixels can be changed, are two of many applications of ground-breaking research at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Linköping University. New groundbreaking results on these topics have been published in the prestigious scientific journal Science Advances.

The researchers in organic electronics have a favourite material to work with: the conducting polymer PEDOT:PSS, which conducts both electrons and ions. Displays and transistors manufactured from this polymer have many advantages, which include that they are simple and cheap to manufacture, and the material itself is non-hazardous. It has, however, been difficult to create devices that switch rapidly at a specific voltage, known as the "threshold voltage". This gives that it has, so far, been difficult to control the current state of the transistors or the color state of the displays in a precise manner.

"The lack of any threshold in the redox-switching characteristics of PEDOT:PSS hampers bistability and rectification, characteristics that would allow for passive matrix addressing in display or memory functionality" says Simone Fabiano, senior lecturer at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, LOE, who is the principal author of the article in Science Advances, together with Negar Sani from the research institute RISE Acreo.

Cellulose nanofibers can help particles in ink and printed electronics disperse evenly

Drying is an important part of printing words and electronics. Particles suspended in liquid are applied to a surface and the liquid evaporates leaving the particles behind. Many times, the particles dry unevenly because of the so-called 'coffee ring effect'. Much like when spilled coffee dries up and leaves behind a hollow ring, particles tend to move to the outside of the liquid droplet. This is a problem, particularly for printed electronics, which require uniform application of a liquid for maximum performance.

Cellulose nanofibers offer an environmentally friendly and effective solution to this problem, explain researchers from Japan in a paper recently published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.

The researchers tested three different concentrations of cellulose nanofibers added to a solution with suspended particles. They also tried increasing the particle concentration in a solution with no added nanofibers. They photographed the drying process under a microscope over time.

The solutions with nanofibers dried much more evenly than those without. Instead of a hollow ring, the particles condensed into a solid dot, slightly shrinking in size as the liquid evaporated. Particles in the mixtures with nanofibers also moved at a consistent pace. There was no final rush to the periphery as was observed in the solutions without nanofibers.

Stretching the limits of elastic conductors

A newly developed printable elastic conductor retains high conductivity even when stretched to as much as five times its original length, says a Japanese team of scientists. The new material, produced in paste-like ink form, can be printed in various patterns on textiles and rubber surfaces as stretchable wiring for wearable devices incorporating sensors, as well as give human skin-like functions to robot exteriors.

The development of wearable devices such as those monitoring a person's health or physical performance, like heart rate or muscle activity, is currently underway with some products already on the market. Moreover, with the advent of robots in areas such as health care and retail, in addition to manufacturing, future applications for sensitive elastic conductive material that can withstand high strain from stretching are likely to increase at a fever pitch.

"We saw the growing demand for wearable devices and robots," says Professor Takao Someya at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Engineering, who supervised the current study. "We felt it was very important to create printable elastic conductors to help meet the need and realize the development of the products," he adds.

Nanowire 'inks' enable paper-based printable electronics: Highly conductive films make functional circuits without adding high heat

Printed electronics, which are already being used on a wide scale in devices such as the anti-theft radio frequency identification (RFID) tags you might find on the back of new DVDs, currently have one major drawback: for the circuits to work, they first have to be heated to melt all the nanoparticles together into a single conductive wire, making it impossible to print circuits on inexpensive plastics or paper. A new study by Duke researchers shows that tweaking the shape of the nanoparticles in the ink might just eliminate the need for heat. By comparing the conductivity of films made from different shapes of silver nanostructures, the researchers found that electrons zip through films made of silver nanowires much easier than films made from other shapes, like nanospheres or microflakes. In fact, electrons flowed so easily through the nanowire films that they could function in printed circuits without the need to melt them all together. "The nanowires had a 4,000 times higher conductivity than the more commonly used silver nanoparticles that you would find in printed antennas for RFID tags," said Benjamin Wiley, assistant professor of chemistry at Duke. "So if you use nanowires, then you don't have to heat the printed circuits up to such high temperature and you can use cheaper plastics or paper."

Allied Market Research, titled, “Electron Microscopy Market Size By Type (Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)), By Application (Life Sciences, Material Sciences, Other), By End User (Healthcare, Research Institute, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis And Industry Forecast, 2022-2031". The electron microscopy market was valued at $3.7 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $8.3 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 8.5% from 2022 to 2031.

Electron microscopy represents an advanced imaging method that employs a concentrated beam of electrons to visualize specimens with exceptional precision on a micro- to nanoscale level. In contrast to traditional optical microscopy, this technique harnesses the short electron wavelength, enabling the acquisition of high-resolution images that can discern structures at atomic scales. The technology is categorized into two primary forms: Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), which directs electrons through a thin sample to generate internal images, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which sweeps electrons over a surface to construct 3D images that reveal intricate surface details.

Electron microscopy assumes a pivotal role across diverse scientific domains. In the realm of biology, it proves invaluable for investigating complex cellular structures, subcellular organelles, and viral constituents, thereby propelling advancements in fields like cell biology, microbiology, and medical research. Within materials science, electron microscopy simplifies the scrutiny of material attributes, defects, and crystal formations, pivotal for the design of innovative materials with specific properties. The realm of nanotechnology exploits electron microscopy to characterize nanomaterials, thereby guiding the advancement of nanoelectronics, nanomedicine, and other avant-garde applications. Moreover, industries such as electronics, semiconductor production, and materials engineering employ electron microscopy to ensure quality assurance and refine manufacturing processes.

Electron microscopy finds extensive utility across a broad spectrum of scientific, industrial, and research domains. Academic institutions and research establishments constitute a significant user base, employing electron microscopy to deeply explore fundamental scientific inquiries spanning biology, materials science, and physics. In biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, it aids in visualizing cellular structures and biomolecules, thereby propelling drug development and medical research. Industries encompassing electronics, materials engineering, and semiconductor manufacturing depend on electron microscopy for quality assurance, product assessment, and process enhancement.

Nanotechnology enterprises utilize electron microscopy to investigate and manipulate nanomaterials, thereby forming the basis for innovations in fields like nanoelectronics and nanomedicine. Government laboratories utilize it for tasks like forensic analysis, environmental monitoring, and advanced materials investigation. Geological and environmental research institutions leverage electron microscopy to scrutinize mineral compositions, geological formations, and environmental specimens. Collectively, these diverse end users underscore electron microscopy's indispensable role in advancing understanding, catalyzing technological progress, and enriching various scientific and industrial ventures.

The significant factors impacting the electron microscopy market gowth include increase in demand for electron microscope in semiconductor & microelectronics sector and surge in adoption of electron microscopy in the fields of healthcare and life science. In addition, the market is affected by high prices associated with microscopes. Moreover increased R&D activities in the automotive influences the market growth. However, each of these factors is anticipated to have a definite impact on the growth of the global electron microscopy market during the forecast period.The electron microscopy market outlook exhibits high growth potential in commercial and industrial sectors. Furthermore, the Electron Microscopy Market Opportunity is also present in food, forensics, chemical, healthcare, and various other industriesies. According to the current electron microscopy market trends, the most widely used technologies are immune electron microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy. The demand for these technologies is expected to grow the electron microscopy industry steadily in the forecasted period.

By type, the market is fragmented into scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. The scanning electron microscope segment was the highest revenue contributor to the market and is estimated to dominate the market due to surge in demand for nanotechnology-based research.

On the basis of application, the market is segregated into life sciences, material sciences, and others. The other segment dominated the market in 2021, contribution significantly in the electron microscopy market growth.

Depending on end user, the market is categorized into healthcare, research institute, and others. The research institute segment exhibited the significant growth and is estimated to expand at a healthy CAGR.

Region wise, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

Key Benefits For Stakeholders

This study comprises an analytical depiction of the electron microscopy market size along with the current trends and future estimations to depict the imminent investment pockets.

The overall electron microscopy market analysis is determined to understand the profitable trends to gain a stronger foothold.

The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities with a detailed impact analysis.

The current electron microscopy market forecast is quantitatively analyzed from 2021 to 2031 to benchmark the financial competency.

Porter’s five forces analysis illustrates the potency of the buyers and suppliers in the industry.

Allied Market Research, titled, “Printed Electronics Market Size By Technology, Material, and Application" The printed electronics market size was valued at $9.4 billion in 2022, and is estimated to reach $55.7 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 20.1% from 2023 to 2032.

The printed electronics market growth projections is expected to witness substantial growth during the forecast period. This is attributed due to the creation of electrical circuits using additive technologies Traditional electronics production relies on time-consuming and wasteful subtractive techniques such as etching and milling. Printed electronics, on the other hand, take a more environmentally friendly method, depositing electronic inks onto substrates precisely and controllably. This additive manufacturing technology not only reduces material waste, but it also opens new opportunities for building electronics on unusual surfaces. The printed electronics market demand out due to its low cost and scalability. Laser and screen-printing technologies, for instance, may be rapidly adapted for high-volume production, lowering manufacturing costs when compared to older methods.

The increase in demand for flexible electronics and printed circuit boards PCB is a primary driver of printed electronics adoption. Traditional manufacturing procedures are frequently stiff and pricey, whereas printed electronics provide a less expensive and more flexible alternative. Furthermore, rise in interest in Internet of Things (IoT) devices has increased the demand for low-cost, high-volume manufacturing processes, making printed electronics an appealing alternative. In addition, the surge in the demand for the environmental sustainability of printed electronics compared to typical production fuels the market growth as this printing method produces less waste, and the use of organic and biodegradable ingredients corresponds with the worldwide movement toward green technology. As consumers and organizations prioritize sustainability, printed electronics provide a tempting alternative. Furthermore, another significant benefit of printed electronics is its versatility. Printed electronics may be applied on flexible substrates, allowing the development of bendable and stretchy electrical devices. This adaptability offers new avenues for applications in wearable technology, medical devices, and other fields. These factors are anticipated to boost printed electronics market share. 

However, despite its tremendous promise, printed electronics confront several limitations that prevent broad implementation. The reduced performance relative to standard silicon-based electronics acts as a barrier to market growth. In addition, the materials employed in printed electronics may not have the same level of conductivity or durability as conventional materials, restricting their usage in high-performance devices. The restricted complexity of circuits that may be created is one of the fundamental limitations of printed electronics. Printing technology may struggle to make elaborate patterns with the precision necessary for modern electrical components now. This constraint limits the usage of printed electronics in several high-tech applications. One noteworthy restriction is that printing procedures are slower and have a lower throughput when compared to traditional production methods. This can be a severe disadvantage for applications that need high-speed, high-volume manufacturing. The materials employed in printed electronics may have limited durability and stability, reducing gadget longevity. Furthermore, reaching the same level of miniaturization as traditional electronics is difficult, limiting use in industries where compact form factors are critical.

On the contrary, the printed electronics technology environment is rapidly changing. Advances in conductive inks, such as graphene and silver nanoparticles, lead to improved printed circuit conductivity and durability. Inkjet, screen printing, and gravure printing technologies are constantly advancing in terms of resolution and speed. Three-dimensional electrical structures are being created using 3D printing techniques. Furthermore, the development of hybrid technologies that combine printed and conventional electronics seeks to capitalize on the advantages of both techniques. These technical advances point to a bright future for printed electronics as researchers and engineers work to overcome present limits and push the boundaries of what is possible. In the future years, research activities are expected to focus on improving the performance and reliability of printed electronic components. This involves creating more efficient conductive inks, increasing the longevity of printed devices, and investigating novel applications in domains such as robotics and artificial intelligence.

The printed electronics market segmentation into material, technology, device and region. On the basis of material, the market is bifurcated into ink and substrate. By technology, the market is classified into inkjet printing, screen printing, gravure printing, and flexography. Depending on device, the market is classified into display, photovoltaic, lighting, RFID and others. Based on region, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

The key players profiled in the printed electronics market analysis include Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, LG Display Co. Ltd, Molex LLC, Agfa-Gevaert Group, Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated (PARC), DuPont de Nemours, Inc, Nissha Co. Ltd, BASF, Nova Centrix, and E Ink Holdings Inc.

The report offers a comprehensive analysis of the global printed electronics market trends by thoroughly studying different aspects of the market such as market segments, market statistics, market dynamics, regional market outlook, investment opportunities, and top players working toward the growth of the market. The report also highlights the current scenario and upcoming trends & developments that are contributing toward the growth of the market. Moreover, restraints and challenges that hold power to obstruct the market growth are also profiled in the report along with the Porter’s five forces analysis of the market to elucidate factors such as competitive landscape, bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, threats of new players, and emergence of substitutes in the market.

Key Findings of the Study

Based on material, the ink sub-segment emerged as the global leader in 2022 and the ink is anticipated to be the fastest growing during the forecast period.

Based on technology, the screen printing sub-segment emerged as the global leader in 2022 and the same segment is predicted to show the fastest growth in the upcoming years.

Based on the device, the display sub-segment emerged as the global leader in 2022 and the same segment is predicted to show the fastest growth in the upcoming years.