Printed electronics need more materials

NanoMarkets has released the first of four report modules from the firm's printed electronics materials database.

The first report provides near-term outlook for the printed electronics materials business and concludes that printed electronics is evolving rapidly towards real commercial products and will need materials that perform well and are available in commercial quantities over the next year or so.

This study identifies business opportunities in five key segments of the printed electronics materials business: conductive metallic inks, printed organic materials, printed silicon, inks that use nanomaterials and substrate materials.

The report analyses the implications for printed electronics of important developments such as the high price of silver, the latest R&D in organic materials and nanomaterials and the imminent commercialisation of both printed silicon and printed electronics on paper.

It also looks at what some of the most innovative materials firms are doing to further the evolution of printed electronics.

Three key trends have been identified that are shaping the emerging printed electronics market:

More materials are being turned into inks, bringing the advantages of printing to more segments of the electronics industry. The report discusses the new role played by inks made from silicon, carbon nanotubes and hybrid materials such as silver-plated copper or dye-sensitive photovoltaic materials.

The printed electronics industry is learning from the established semiconductor industry. Silicon inks are emerging as a viable way to create thin-film transistors, while transfer printing opens up new roads to fabricate silicon devices on flexible substrates.

Printed silicon is a challenge to the organic electronics paradigm, but also an inspiration as technology developers borrow concepts such as CMOS and materials sets from the silicon world and transfer them to organic electronics.

Nanomaterials are establishing themselves as a way forward for printed electronics in a number of ways. Inks using metallic nanoparticles promise higher conductivities and lower curing temperatures, nanosilicon inks may prove the best route to printed silicon, and carbon nanotube inks open up interesting new possibilities for ITO replacements, lighting and even emissive displays.