Solvay invests in Plextronics

Solvay has announced its participation, as lead investor, in the recent capital increase of Plextronics, Inc., an innovator of technology for the printed electronics market. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Plextronics specializes in the development and commercialization of polymer-based technologies for printed electronics such as displays, solar cells and RFID 'smart' tags.

The 10 million dollar investment grants Solvay a minority interest in Plextronics. It complements the recent R&D agreement between the Group’s 100 percent subsidiary Solvay Solexis and Thin Film Electronics ASA of Oslo, Norway, to develop polymeric inks for the manufacturing of printed electronic circuits, as well as Solvay’s research collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology's Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics.

Printed electronics is an emerging industry that takes advantage of printing technologies to manufacture electronic devices with a wider variety of shapes and supports, including thin, flexible substrates. Through the use of proprietary technologies, these devices can be manufactured efficiently (high-volume, low-cost) using adaptations of traditional printing processes.

‘Plextronics has won a number of prestigious awards since it was founded in 2002, and is considered one of North America’s most impressive emerging companies among high technology innovators,’ commented Lopold Demiddeleer, director of Solvay Corporate R&D and new business development. ‘Its expertise, which capitalizes on extensive research efforts at Carnegie Mellon University, and market-driven activities are a perfect match for one of Solvay’s most promising innovation platforms.’

Plextronics' technology has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of ‘smart labels’ such as RFID tags, whose development is currently hampered by the excessive cost of current technologies.