Nanosilver conductive inks target manufacturers of consumer electronics goods

Xaar plc, the world leader in industrial inkjet technology, and Lawter, along with its parent company Harima Chemicals Group (HCG), have announced a collaboration to optimise the performance of a line of nanosilver conductive inks in the Xaar 1002 industrial inkjet printhead. The combined solution is expected to be of particular interest to manufacturers of consumer electronics goods looking for a robust and reliable method for printing antennas and sensors with silver nanoparticle ink as part of their manufacturing processes. Industrial inkjet offers significant advantages over traditional print technologies to manufacturers of consumer electronics products. Inkjet is a cleaner process than other methods of printing silver inks; this is especially relevant when printing onto a substrate, such as a display, in which any yield loss is very expensive. With inkjet, manufacturers can very precisely control the amount of ink dispensed in certain areas of a pattern so that the ink or fluid deposited can be thicker in some areas and thinner in others. Similarly, inkjet enables the deposition of a much thinner layer of fluids than traditional methods, which is significant for the manufacturers looking to produce thinner devices. In addition, inkjet is one of the few technologies able to print a circuit over a substrate that has a structured surface. Both Xaar and Lawter / HCG are leaders in their own respective fields, so the announcement that the companies are working together on a combined silver nanoink and printhead solution will be of interest to many industrial manufacturers. “This is an excellent opportunity to showcase our latest technological breakthroughs and demonstrate the unique value that our revolutionary nanoparticle inkjet solutions can play as part of an integrated system solutions in the PE world,” said Dr Arturo Horta Ph.D., business development manager, Lawter Innovation Group. HCG pioneered the development and manufacture of silver nanoparticle conductive inks for the printed electronics industry over 20 years ago and has over 100 patents related to its nanoparticle dispersion technology. This innovative line of nanosilver conductive inks for inkjet printing offers a unique combination of low temperature sintering and high circuit conductivity. In addition, Lawter’s novel inks are compatible with a range of photonic curing tools as well as a variety of substrates. These value-added features, together for the first time in a single product, provide increased project efficiency, decreased raw material costs and finer line printing. All of this adds up to significant, quantifiable benefits for the end-user. Xaar, also a major player in industrial manufacturing applications, has been delivering unrivalled inkjet technology for 25 years. Its leading printhead, the Xaar 1002 is particularly suitable for Lawter’s nanosilver conductive inks due to the printhead’s unique TF Technology™ (fluid recirculation) which ensures a continuous flow of the heavy particulate in the ink to deliver uninterrupted high volume production printing. “The applications that will benefit from the combination of Lawter’s nanosilver conductive inks and Xaar’s 1002 printhead are exciting,” said Keith Smith, director of advanced manufacturing, Xaar. “We are seeing more and more that the consumer electronics market is looking for a printing solution that provides the quality of the Lawter ink and production reliability of the Xaar GS6 1002 to allow designers to make thinner devices. The printhead and ink combination, along with photonic sintering, is unlocking mechanical and electrical designs never thought possible before.” After oven sintering or photonic curing, Lawter’s nanosilver conductive inks can produce lines with thickness below 1µm. Narrow particle-size distribution makes Lawter’s new line of nanosilver conductive inks ideal for complex print patterns, says the company.