New technology for next generation Australian printing

The following piece has been authored by Professor Paul Dastoor, NSSN Ambassador at the University of Newcastle, and has first appeared in the Australian Printer - May 2022 edition.

Traditional printing typically involves patterning surfaces, such as paper, card and plastic, with pictures and words. However, the discovery and development of semiconducting inks means that electronic devices, such as solar panels and biosensors, can now be created using commercial-scale printing.

The Centre for Organic Electronics (COE) at the University of Newcastle, Australia, has been working for many years on developing a range of printed organic devices, ranging from large scale printed solar panels to biosensors to tackle urgent global healthcare issues such as eliminating painful finger-prick glucose testing for diabetes sufferers. The low cost of roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacture means that printed organic electronic devices can be manufactured at an extremely low-cost. For example, printed solar panels can be fabricated and installed at a cost of around $10/m2.  

Moreover, no other renewal energy technology can be manufactured as quickly and because printed solar panels only weigh 300 g per square metre (compared to standard solar panels that can weigh as much as 20 kg per square metre), no other competing technology can deliver as much electrical power per gram of manufactured solar panel.

The low cost and weight of this technology combined with the speed at which it can be deployed is exciting; enabling solar applications for areas where conventional panels simply are not suitable, such as the rapid deployment of solar energy for disaster relief. Indeed, there are over 100 million square metres of lightweight industrial roofing that simply cannot withstand the weight of conventional solar panels.

Read more in Australian Printer (page 51) here.