Printed, Flexible and Organic Electronics

Neotech AMT has signed an agreement with Nextex Ventures, LLC to market their range of 5-axis systems for 3D Printed Electronics in North America.

Amazon has introduced Kindle Scribe—the next generation of Kindle that unites reading with writing. Kindle Scribe features the world's first 10.2-inch, 300 pixels per inch, Paperwhite display, and an included pen that never needs charging.

Researchers have embedded new low-cost sensors that monitor breathing, heart rate, and ammonia into t-shirts and face masks. Potential applications range from monitoring exercise, sleep, and stress to diagnosing and monitoring disease through breath and vital signs.

The last few decades have witnessed a tremendous advance in electronics technology, with the development of devices that are thinner, lightweight, flexible, and robust. However, as the devices get thinner so does the space for accommodating the internal working components. This has created an issue of improper heat dissipation in thin-film devices, since conventional heat sink materials are bulky and cannot be integrated into them.

In2tec and Sun Chemical have developed a series of patented ultra-low temperature releasable adhesives, manufacturing (ReUSE®) and recycling processes (ReCYCLE™) for the fabrication of electronic circuit assemblies.

Glass facades characterize modern architecture. While solar radiation serves to support heating in winter, the building interior heats up in summer and requires active cooling. Smart windows can regulate the solar radiation according to the weather situation - a forward-looking solution in times of energy saving. Researchers have now succeeded in producing the world's first thermochromic layer on ultra-thin glass in a roll-to-roll process. These results will make mechanical blinds superfluous in the future and at the same time reduce the cooling and heating energy requirements of a building.

TNO at Holst Centre in Eindhoven hosted the kick-off of the ECOTRON project, which has been set up to reach a sustainable electronics production process through hybrid printed electronics. In short, ECOTRON aims to create more sustainable electronics by using printing and dismantling techniques that allow low-energy production processes and a circular build-up of materials that are potentially of 'renewable' or compostable origin.

Due to their very high efficiency in transporting electric charges from light, perovskites are known as the next generation material for solar panels and LED displays. A team have invented a brand-new application of perovskites as optical fibres.

Powering IoT devices in a cheap, sustainable fashion is crucial to achieve the promised vision of a connected world. Small, low-cost thin film solar cells, optimized to work with diffuse indoor light, offer a solution to this dilemma.