TY - JOUR
T1 - Suitability of Paper-Based Substrates for Printed Electronics
AU - Jansson, Elina
AU - Lyytikäinen, Johanna
AU - Tanninen, Panu
AU - Eiroma, Kim
AU - Leminen, Ville
AU - Immonen, Kirsi
AU - Hakola, Liisa
N1 - Funding
Research work was carried out in ECOtronics project (www.ecotronics.fi (accessed on26.1.2022)) co-funded by Business Finland, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Tampere University, LUT University and LAB University of Applied Sciences (grant no.1423/31/2019). Part of the facilities used were provided by the Academy of Finland Research Infrastructure “Printed Intelligence Infrastructure (PII-FIRI, grant no. 32020)”.
PY - 2022/1/26
Y1 - 2022/1/26
N2 - Flexible plastic substrates are widely used in printed electronics; however, they cause major climate impacts and pose sustainability challenges. In recent years, paper-based electronics has been studied to increase the recyclability and sustainability of printed electronics. The aim of this paper is to analyze the printability and performance of metal conductor layers on different paper-based substrates using both flexography and screen printing and to compare the achieved performance with that of plastic foils. In addition, the re-pulpability potential of the used paper-based substrates is evaluated. As compared to the common polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate, the layer conductivity on paper-based substrates was found to be improved with both the printing methods without having a large influence on the detail rendering. This means that a certain surface roughness and porosity is needed for the improved ink transfer and optimum ink behavior on the surface of the substrate. In the case of uncoated paper-based substrates, the conductivity and print quality decreased by preventing the formation of the proper and intimate ink-substrate contact during the ink transfer. Finally, the re-pulpability trials together with layer quality analysis detected very good, coated substrate candidates for paper-based printed electronics competing with or even outperforming the print quality on the reference PET foil.
AB - Flexible plastic substrates are widely used in printed electronics; however, they cause major climate impacts and pose sustainability challenges. In recent years, paper-based electronics has been studied to increase the recyclability and sustainability of printed electronics. The aim of this paper is to analyze the printability and performance of metal conductor layers on different paper-based substrates using both flexography and screen printing and to compare the achieved performance with that of plastic foils. In addition, the re-pulpability potential of the used paper-based substrates is evaluated. As compared to the common polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate, the layer conductivity on paper-based substrates was found to be improved with both the printing methods without having a large influence on the detail rendering. This means that a certain surface roughness and porosity is needed for the improved ink transfer and optimum ink behavior on the surface of the substrate. In the case of uncoated paper-based substrates, the conductivity and print quality decreased by preventing the formation of the proper and intimate ink-substrate contact during the ink transfer. Finally, the re-pulpability trials together with layer quality analysis detected very good, coated substrate candidates for paper-based printed electronics competing with or even outperforming the print quality on the reference PET foil.
KW - Paper-based electronics
KW - Printed electronics
KW - Re-pulpability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123420907&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ma15030957
DO - 10.3390/ma15030957
M3 - Article
SN - 1996-1944
VL - 15
JO - Materials
JF - Materials
IS - 3
M1 - 957
ER -