Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration

Abstract

Printing technologies have become a novel and disruptive innovation method of manufacturing electronic components to produce a diverse range of devices including photovoltaic cells, solar panels, energy harvesters, batteries, light sources, and sensors on really thin, lightweight, and flexible substrates. In traditional electronic manufacturing, a functional layer must be deposited, typically through a chemical vapor or physical vapor process for a copper layer for circuitry production. These subtractive techniques involve multiple production steps and use toxic etching chemicals to remove unwanted photoresist layers and metals. In printing, the same functional material can be selectively deposited only where it is needed on the substrate via plates or print heads. The process is additive and significantly reduces not only the number of manufacturing steps, but also the need for energy, time, consumables, as well as the waste. Thereby, printing has been in the focus for many applications as a green, efficient, energy-saving, environmentally friendly manufacturing method. This chapter presents a general vision on green energy resources and then details printed electronics that consolidates green energy and environment relative to traditional manufacturing system.

Towards in-situ quality control of conductive printable electronics: a review of possible pathways

“…Nowadays, different types of conductive, semiconductive and dielectric inks are commercially available [10,14,15], and a specific ink functionality is developed for each PE component. A typical ink is formulated from resins, vehicles, additives, and active materials [9][10][11]. The resins have the most significant influence on the properties of the ink and determine the bonding of the formulation ingredients to each other, as well as adhesion to the substrate [11].…”

“…The main criteria for the selection of the active material(s) are the energy required for drying and obtaining the desired performance value and the physicochemical characteristics of the material(s). These include material geometry considerations: 3D dimensions, the size distribution, and modifications to facilitate the ink formulation steps [9][10][11]. Different proportions of the ink's constituents determine the ink characteristics: rheology, viscosity, surface tension, oxidation, etc [9].…”

“…The ink type is chosen based on the future printing process and device applications. In addition, the formulation of inks from compostable and recyclable materials is the subject of intensive research [9]. To date, area that has attracted the most interest in PE is conductive ink [10].…”

Towards fully green printed device with environmental perspectives

“…The other attraction of PE is its fabrication process, which consists of three main steps: selection of printed materials and substrates, printing and then drying or sintering [9]. However, with the massive demand for PE, concerns about their harmful and irreversible contribution to the environment have grown [10]. Indeed, it is estimated that 80% of the environmental load of a product is determined by the choices made at the conception stage [11].…”

“…However, plastic substrates have serious impacts on the environment and create problems for sustainable development [10]. Meanwhile, paper is a recyclable heat-resistant substrate compared to many plastic materials.…”