Printed Electronics Gets More Ambitious
March 2008
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By Dr Peter Harrop
IDTechEx
Printed electronics is a relatively new technology that is evolving very rapidly. The term encompasses printed and potentially printed electronics and electrics. Two years ago, it was thought that printed electronics would make things cheaper and one year ago there was much talk of tightly rollable electronics so a mobile phone could look like a pen because it will have a snap back roller giving a large display and keyboard when needed, that flexible plastic film also gathering power from light and heat - no more flat batteries. These dreams are reaching reality today but it is now realized that printed electronics can do so much more.
Superhuman powers
Consider electronics providing superhuman powers - not just repairing the disabled but enhancing their capabilities. Many such capabilities are now being demonstrated in laboratories.
Edible and biodegradable electronics
Consider edible electronics for medical purposes - Kodak has just patented that for medicine. Others make their new disposable electronic products edible because there is always a chance of a child chewing such a things as an electronic, paper game card (eg Menippos Germany, Thin Film Electronics, Sweden) or disposable skin patches delivering drugs and cosmetics in a controlled manner (Power Paper Israel etc). In the last year, there has also been a growth in work on biodegradable electronics printed on paper (Helsinki University, Finland; Abu Akademi, Finland; Stora Enso, Sweden, etc).
Invisible electronics
Invisible (transparent) electronics will generate power and act as a computer on a window or watch face without spoiling the view. It will even be a display that is invisible until needed. Transparent Organic |Light Emitting Diode (OLED) displays have recently been demonstrated. The new venture 3T Technology in the UK calls itself “The Transparent Electronics Company”. With the help of Cambridge University UK it is bringing transparent displays, batteries, photovoltaics and transistors to market. Hewlett Packard and others have also demonstrated such capabilities in the laboratory. Then you are only at the beginning of understanding the awesome capabilities of printed electronics.
Now and soon - even morphing
These are not distant dreams. A contact lens that projects video has been demonstrated. A stretchable, flexible, self-cleaning device that can be used as a mobile phone and keyboard that harvests solar energy and senses the environment is on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York thanks to Cambridge University and Nokia. They call it morphing electronics.
IDTechEx
Printed electronics is a relatively new technology that is evolving very rapidly. The term encompasses printed and potentially printed electronics and electrics. Two years ago, it was thought that printed electronics would make things cheaper and one year ago there was much talk of tightly rollable electronics so a mobile phone could look like a pen because it will have a snap back roller giving a large display and keyboard when needed, that flexible plastic film also gathering power from light and heat - no more flat batteries. These dreams are reaching reality today but it is now realized that printed electronics can do so much more.
Superhuman powers
Consider electronics providing superhuman powers - not just repairing the disabled but enhancing their capabilities. Many such capabilities are now being demonstrated in laboratories.
Edible and biodegradable electronics
Consider edible electronics for medical purposes - Kodak has just patented that for medicine. Others make their new disposable electronic products edible because there is always a chance of a child chewing such a things as an electronic, paper game card (eg Menippos Germany, Thin Film Electronics, Sweden) or disposable skin patches delivering drugs and cosmetics in a controlled manner (Power Paper Israel etc). In the last year, there has also been a growth in work on biodegradable electronics printed on paper (Helsinki University, Finland; Abu Akademi, Finland; Stora Enso, Sweden, etc).
Invisible electronics
Invisible (transparent) electronics will generate power and act as a computer on a window or watch face without spoiling the view. It will even be a display that is invisible until needed. Transparent Organic |Light Emitting Diode (OLED) displays have recently been demonstrated. The new venture 3T Technology in the UK calls itself “The Transparent Electronics Company”. With the help of Cambridge University UK it is bringing transparent displays, batteries, photovoltaics and transistors to market. Hewlett Packard and others have also demonstrated such capabilities in the laboratory. Then you are only at the beginning of understanding the awesome capabilities of printed electronics.
Now and soon - even morphing
These are not distant dreams. A contact lens that projects video has been demonstrated. A stretchable, flexible, self-cleaning device that can be used as a mobile phone and keyboard that harvests solar energy and senses the environment is on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York thanks to Cambridge University and Nokia. They call it morphing electronics.
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