Sustainable conductive inks for printable electronic applications

在原材料资源的利用和将其转化为有用产品的方法方面，出现了两个重要趋势。正在考虑可持续和可再生资源，而不是商品和服务生产中耗尽的原油，因为这种资源具有有利的碳足迹。在电子行业，趋势正在从基于硅的加工转向柔性电子产品，其中使用物理气相沉积(PVD)进行导电材料沉积的传统方法正在被2-D和3-D打印技术所取代。前一种技术需要复杂的洁净室环境，维护和操作成本高昂。另一方面，可印刷电子产品是在环境温度和标准环境中使用可溶液处理的材料进行的，不需要洁净室设施。灵活的可印刷电子产品等替代工艺的出现提供了许多优势，它将对这一市场领域产生颠覆性影响。这是一个快速增长的技术行业，预计到2016年，市场规模将达到约450亿美元。在这一战略项目中，我们建议开发一种可扩展的绿色工艺，以从植物和各种生物质中提取纤维素纳米晶(Cnc)来生产可持续导电油墨(SCI)。我们将与我们的工业合作伙伴Celluforce和MW Canada合作，开发用于生产灵活电子应用的SCI的技术。该项目将包含两个主要领域，这两个领域将导致：(1)为制造各种可印刷电子应用的SCI开发一种可扩展的“绿色”工艺；(2)配制水性SCI并优化打印平台，以便将SCI输送到各种类型的柔性基材上，包括纺织品、纸张和可生物降解塑料。关键目标是制定一种可持续纳米材料开发的整体方法，这种材料可用于下一代可打印电子产品，废物处理问题大大减少。这项研究将重振苦苦挣扎的林业部门，并创造经济和商业活动，使加拿大成为可持续材料领域的领导者。

Two important trends are emerging in the use of raw material resources and methods of transforming them into useful products. Sustainable and renewal resources are being considered over depleting crude oil in the production of goods and services due to the favourable carbon foot print of such resources. In the electronic industry, the trend is shifting from silicon based processing to flexible electronics, where the traditional method of depositing conductive materials performed with physical vapor deposition (PVD) is being replaced by 2-D and 3-D printing technology. The former technique requires sophisticated clean room environments that are expensive to maintain and operate. On the other hand, printable electronics are performed using solution processable materials at ambient temperature and in a standard environment without the need of clean room facilities. The emergence of alternative processes, such as flexible printable electronics offer many advantages and it will be disruptive to this market sector. This is a rapidly growing technology sector estimated to command a market of approximately $45B by 2016. In this strategic project, we propose to develop a scalable green process to produce sustainable conductive inks (SCI) from cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) derived from plants and various biomasses. In collaboration with our industrial partners, Celluforce and MW Canada, we will develop technologies for the production of SCI for flexible electronic applications. The project will contain TWO major thrust areas that will lead to: (1) the development of a scalable and "green" process for the manufacture of SCI for various printable electronic applications; (2) the formulation of aqueous SCI and the optimization of the printing platform for the delivery of SCI onto various types of flexible substrates, including textiles, paper, and biodegradable plastics. The key goal is to formulate a holistic approach in the development of a sustainable nanomaterial that can be used in the next generation of printable electronics with a significantly lower waste disposal issue. This research will rejuvenate the struggling forestry sector, and create economic and business activities that will position Canada as a leader in sustainable materials.