PCB News - PCB printing technology is moving towards nano-level, have you laid out ahead of time

Nanotechnology is becoming more and more important to the future of printing and printing inks. This is not only in Europe, but will set off a revolution in science and technology in all corners of the world.

If the printing industry wants to further expand the market and extend its antennae to emerging fields such as electronics, it must learn to use nano-scale particles and materials in inks.

Nanotechnology is no stranger to people. It provides the production basis for many new products. By 2015, the sales of nano products are expected to reach trillions of dollars.

Printing may also be able to take a share of this growing market, because the application cost of printing is lower, and inks and coatings containing nano-level components can be used on various substrates.

At pre

sent, many materials can be used to produce nano-components, such as carbon, silver, iron, titanium dioxide, aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, zinc oxide, silicon dioxide, silicon dioxide and nanoclay, etc., although they have not yet been fully used In the formulation of inks and coatings, but the potential for future development cannot be ignored.

In addition, if nanotechnology is to be widely used in printing and other fields, many arduous challenges still need to be met. The most difficult one is to alleviate people's health and safety concerns, especially in Europe, where policies and regulations are relatively strict.

Steve Hankin, a senior consultant at the Institute of Labor Hygiene in the United Kingdom, said: "The safety information on nanomaterials in the market is incomplete, and there are huge knowledge gaps in toxicology, physical and chemical properties, and exposure data. This makes People encounter great difficulties in the risk assessment and risk management of nanomaterials.

Therefore, many companies in Europe require their suppliers to explain the nano ingredients in their products, especially packaged products.

In addition to safety, another headache is the increase in the cost of research and development of nanomaterials. This not only requires high-level R&D personnel, but also expensive equipment. In order to keep up with the pace of technological innovation, small businesses need to invest a lot of money.

Paul, the manager of a small company in the UK that is developing nano-inks for printed electronics, said that nanotechnology has transitioned from materials that meet a single requirement to a complex solution that can meet multiple requirements.

Strict health and safety requirements and increasing research and development costs have made nanotechnology a luxury, far exceeding the limit that some ink manufacturers can afford.

Even some large companies in the ink market cannot afford to set up an internal R&D team.

In addition to companies specializing in nanotechnology, some European universities and research institutions are also very interested in nanotechnology, and penetrate into the ink market by manufacturing inks or providing nano-components for ink products.

Over the years, ink manufacturers have used milling to produce nano-pigment particles to improve the color quality and performance of ink formulations.

The use of nanotechnology in traditional coatings can make the substrate anti-scratch properties. Inks containing nanoparticles can be used in most printing processes, especially in the production of printed electronics.

Currently, nanomaterials can be printed on a variety of printing materials for the production of RFID tags, fluorescent displays, plastic batteries, sensors, and solar cells.

In the printing field, the most used nanotechnology is inkjet ink, because it needs to add small particles in the formulation, especially for dye and pigment inks.

The development of inkjet technology complements each other with nanomaterials. With the maturity of inkjet printing technology, nanomaterials have also made exciting progress.

For example, nano-micron materials used in inkjet printing can also be used in the production of photochromic or electrochromic inks, antibacterial agents, flame retardants, conductive graphite and metals, magnetic materials, enzymes and other biological materials.

Nanomaterials in traditional and inkjet inks are mostly used in areas such as security, brand protection and anti-counterfeiting. This is also one of the largest markets for nanotechnology in the printing industry.

Under the current market conditions, printing nanotechnology suppliers and developers should pay close attention to regulatory agencies in Europe and other countries, and understand the overall level of development of this technology, so as to find the best development direction.