Sustainable substrate for printed electronics

This paper focuses on evaluation of paper as a substrate for printed flexible electronics. The motivation for using paper as a substrate comes from its attractive recycling and composting properties. In electronics manufacturing the majority of the materials used come from the substrate (>>50%). Thereby, the use of a sustainable substrate is the first step towards sustainable flexible electronics. The next step would be evaluation and development of the other materials required, such as inks and adhesives, for minimal environmental impact. This paper presents results on evaluation of existing commercial printed semiconductor and conductor ink performance on different paper substrate grades. The ultimate goal was to evaluate the potential of semiconductor and conductor materials as part of an NFC powered electrochromic display [1].