Inkjet technology is moving from the R&D lab to the manufacturing production line, with printed electronics leading the charge.
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By Chuck Griggs
In our article for the inaugural issue of Industrial + Specialty Printing in May 2010 (“Opportunities for Inkjet Printing in Industrial Applications”), we addressed the utility of piezoelectric drop-on-demand (piezo DOD) inkjet technology for a range of functional and decorative industrial printing applications.
Over the past 18 months, the degree of change on the research and development front in printed, thin film, and organic electronics may appear limited. But, just as changes to heated water are barely noticeable until it reaches the boiling point, there is a great deal of development activity in inkjet materials deposition below the surface that is not readily apparent.
Consider that an estimated 3000 organizations are pursuing a market for printed, thin-film and organic electronics alone worth about $2 billion today. In 10 years, growth is forecasted to propel the market to the $45 billion to $55 billion level.
Projections for the percentage of products that will be printed range from 56% to more than 70%, comprising a market segment worth between $25 billion and nearly $40 billion at the high end.
Look closely enough and you will see early indicators of activity at the development level at a large number of diverse organizations. Because of technological complexity and multi-disciplinary approaches required for digital fabrication, many of these initiatives are backed by associations and partnerships between academia and industry. Others are coalitions of commercial enterprises. All are racing to stake a claim in what promises to be one of the greatest land grabs since the days of the gold rush. Several of these consortia include:
The FlexTech Alliance, an organization headquartered in North America exclusively devoted to fostering the growth, profitability and success of the electronic display and flexible, printed electronics supply chain.
SENTINEL Bioactive Paper Network, a consortium of 11 Canadian university, industry, and government partners formed in 2005 with major funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada working toward development of bioactive paper that will detect, capture, and deactivate water and airborne pathogens.
The PRODI project, a consortium of research institutes in six European countries funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework Program (FP7) to promote excellence and competitiveness in automated manufacturing and production equipment and systems for polymer and printed organic and large area electronics (OLAE).
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