Sun Chemical adds inks for printed electronics

Sun Chemical has entered into a license agreement to introduce a new family of molecular inks for the printed electronics market with Groupe Graham International (GGI) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC).

Sun Chemical adds inks for printed electronics

Based on ionic molecules processed through a reduction process, the IPS family of products is claimed to offer a viable alternative to conventional polymer thick film conductive inks and serve as a low-cost alternative to nano materials. The family of products include silver and copper metallization options that can be applied by screen, inkjet or other high speed printing methods. The molecular inks feature sub-micron trace thickness that will enable the production of narrow traces in thin dielectric layers on a variety of applications, including: in-mold electronics (IME), printed antenna, displays, EMI/RFI and sensors.

The new molecular ink technology developed by GGI, a specialist in user interface technologies in touch applications, and NRC, a research organization supporting industrial innovation, will be produced by Sun Chemical and promoted collaboratively by all three organizations.

GGI CEO Eric Saint-Jacques said: ‘The IPS platform has been a multi-year development effort with the NRC and we are pleased to have its value validated by a global market leader. We feel privileged to be working with Sun Chemical and look forward to supporting their global go-to-market initiatives with our solution design and manufacturing services.’

‘We’re excited to enter the next phase of development,’ added Thomas Ducellier, executive director for the printable electronics program at NRC. ‘We look forward to seeing the unique attributes of the molecular ink platform address emerging market needs.’ 

Roy Bjorlin, global commercial and strategic initiatives director at Sun Chemical Advanced Materials, concluded: ‘Customers will be pleased to have an option in the marketplace that features fine lines for printed electronics. We look forward to collaborating with GGI and the NRC on this project.’