Printed and Organic Electronics

Printed electronics offers fantastic opportunities to create novel products and electronic systems with conventional printing techniques as a basis. Paper, plastics, leather and other materials can be modified with electronic and bioelectronic functionality.

Examples of possibilities with Printed Electronics, soft electronics, hybrid electronics and iontronics are:

• miniatyrisation
• environmentally sound production
• lower cost thanks to smarter production methods
• flexible substrates and materials allow for novel form factors - hybrid electronics and soft electronics
• ionically conducting and charged materials open for possibilities in biocompatible systems-  interfacing with human in the area of bioelectronics
• combinatory effects of novel materials and components

Focus areas

Packaging

Smart and intelligent packaging, smart labels, smart materials and new communication techniques - Internet of Things or maybe Internet of Packaging? With smaller, smarter and environmentally sound system it is possible to detect moisture, temperature, vibration or for instance biomarkers.

Medtech and healthcare

With printed biosensors and systems which communicate inside and on the human body, the gap between electronics and the human signaling system is bridged. In humans charge is carried by ion instead of electrons and the area of iontronics is evolving fast. Our Integrated Sensor Platform is a unique concept which has been developed by RISE (Acreo) in collaboration with Linköping University. The system represents a new paradigm in bio-sensing.

With a globally aging population the pressure on health care systems is continuously growing, and the need for Preventive care, Precision Medicine and Tele-medicine is increasing rapidly. Technologies for remote monitoring and self-diagnosis all depend on data collection through sensors and smart systems. Another example is drug monitoring in field via rapid tests and monitoring of cold chains for temperature sensitive drugs such as vaccines. 

Construction

Printed sensors in construction materials can register humidity, temperature and potentially also mildew/mould and and other damages. This technology may lead to higher material standards and increased safety for both buildings and individuals. Our spin-off company Invisense is a good example of the possibilities in this area.

Printed Electronics Arena

PEA is an innovation cluster and ecosystem for research and developement in printed electronics. Our Test and Demonstration line, PEA Manufacturing, is the core of the business. PEA is an EU-named Pilot Line Demonstrator for enabling technologies and is a state-of-the-art facility for high end printing, with a wide range of capabilities in printing, curing, cutting, mounting and working with different types of technologies and materials. Take a virtual tour of Printed Electronics Arena to view the equipment in one of Europe’s top facilities within hybrid electronics.

We bridge the gap between academic research and industrial needs, focusing on making products, components and systems producible in reality, not just in labs. The innovation cluster builds on a tight collaboration between RISE and the University of Linköping, the Laboratory of Organic Electronics.

Within the Innovation Cluster we work with and support entrepreneurs, inventors and multinational companies from a range of industries, developing business and technical devices based on printed electronics. If needed, we tap into the entire competence pool and lab resources from RISE and LiU to meet your needs. 

Our foothold is in chemistry and materials science, physics and electronics design, from molecular level (inks, electrolytes, material combinations for novel sensors, formulation, syntesis, characterisation) to custom prototypes (various substrates, chip integration, electronics design) and into small series production. We often work with up-scaling and production-related topics and meet requests such as:

• Could we make the sensor cheaper?
• could we make the component, or system, smaller and lighter?
• Could we harvest energy and make the system independant of a battery?
• Can we harvest energy with pressure or movement?
• Can we detect a marker or a biomarker, level, parameter more accurately?