Sustainable conductive inks for printable electronic applications

在原材料资源的使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。由于可持续和可再生资源的有利碳足迹，正在考虑在生产商品和服务时消耗原油。在电子工业中，趋势正在从基于硅的加工转向柔性电子产品，其中通过物理气相沉积（PVD）执行的沉积导电材料的传统方法正在被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，其维护和操作都很昂贵。另一方面，可印刷电子产品在环境温度和标准环境下使用溶液可加工材料进行，而不需要清洁室设施。替代工艺的出现，如柔性可印刷电子产品，提供了许多优势，这将对这一市场领域产生破坏性影响。这是一个快速增长的技术部门，预计到2016年将拥有约450亿美元的市场。在这个战略项目中，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的纤维素纤维（CNC）生产可持续的导电油墨（SCI）。我们将与我们的工业合作伙伴Celluforce和MW Canada合作，开发用于灵活电子应用的SCI生产技术。该项目将包括两个主要的重点领域，将导致：（1）开发一种可扩展的“绿色”工艺，用于制造用于各种可打印电子应用的SCI;（2）水性SCI的配方和优化打印平台，用于将SCI输送到各种类型的柔性基底上，包括纺织品，纸张和生物降解塑料。主要目标是制定一种整体方法，开发可持续的纳米材料，可用于下一代可印刷电子产品，大大降低废物处理问题。这项研究将振兴陷入困境的林业部门，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.