The Truly Integrated Circuit Is Printed and Flexible
Smart barriers
Barrier layers to protect delicate printed organic photovoltaic and OLED displays are receiving close attention. Hugely improved barrier layer substrate film is announced by DNP & 3M Display & Graphics Business Lab and companies such as DELO are developing barrier adhesives and inks to go over the patterns printed on these barrier films and to seal encapsulation.
Edible and transparent electronics
Edible printed electronics from Eastman Kodak and Somark Innovations is initially intended to be applied directly to food, pharmaceutical tablets and meat but edible substrates will also be needed, preferably leveraging the electronic functions. Then there is the new discipline of transparent electronics being pursued by Hewlett Packard, Cambridge University in the UK and Fraunhofer ISC in Germany for example.