Material Suppliers for Printed Electronics

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Materials for Printed Electronics
2.1 Conductors
2.1.1 Metal Oxides
2.1.2 Conductive Polymers
2.1.3 Metal Conductors
2.2 Dielectrics
2.3 Semiconductors
2.4 Substrates

3. State-of-the-Art Material Suppliers
3.1 Bayer MaterialScience AG
3.2 BASF Future Business GmbH
3.3 Agfa-Gevaert NV ORGACON ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
3.4 Evonik Degussa GmbH
3.5 H.C. Stark Clevios GmbH

4. State-of-the-Art R&D Institutes
4.1 Fraunhofer Institutes
4.1.1 Fraunhofer POLO
4.1.2 Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research
4.1.3 Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems
4.2 Sunchon National University

5. List of References

1. Introduction

Organic and printed electronics are two very recent but well developed technologies. Thanks to an optimistic road map and cooperations, companies all over the world are doing their best to gain process in the areas of techniques, processes, equipment, applications and materials. Every progress and development in these fields serve one common goal: to improve flexible, thin, lightweight and low cost electronic devices.

In order to achieve all these goals it is very important to have the best and most advanced materials.

My further paper will show different types of materials with their special demands to both material suppliers as well as R & D institutes.

2. Materials for Printed Electronics

In the following paragraphs I will describe basic technical backgrounds of different Materials used for Printed Electronics.

2.1. Conductors

Most printed electronic devices need some sort of conductive material. Because the requirements for these conductive materials e.g. low resistance, smooth surface, chemical stability vary from device to device, three different typed of conductive materials are used for printed electronics.

2.1.1 Metal oxides

When it comes to light emitting or optoelectronic devices which need transparent electrodes, metal oxides are the right choice. Typical products are antistatic coating, touch display panels, solar cells, flat panel displays, heaters, defrosters and optical coatings. One material which is produced in industrial quantities is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coated with Indium Tin Oxide (ITO).

Over the last few years PEDOT:PSS has become a significant alternative to ITO in some applications but it is based on a different conductive technology.

2.1.2 Conductive Polymers

The main weakness of organic materials is their poor conductivity compared to inorganic conductors. However, some applications do not need high conductivities. One conducting material, PEDOT:PSS, is now widely used and commercially available. Dispersions of PEDOT:PSS are easy to fit into production because of their good film forming properties and their transparency. Many companies invest in this technology and it might become the main organic conductor.

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 1: Structure of PEDOT:PSS

2.1.3 Metal Conductors

Metals provide the best conductivity and are easy to print. Normally, these inks contain metal molecules or nanotubes. Professor Cho from Sunchon National University in South Korea made some great developments in this area of research which will help to optimize future applications (see paragraph 4.2).

2.2 Dielectrics

Most commonly used dielectrics are inorganic like silicon and not printable.

Therefore, the dielectric materials for printed electronics consist of polymers (polypropylene, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene terephthalate et cetera) which are normally not used for electronic devices and are available in huge amounts inexpensively.

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