Sun Chemical joins the CPEIA

The Canadian Printable Electronics Industry Association continues to build out its roster of industry-leading multinational companies with the addition of Sun Chemical to its membership.

Sun Chemical is a manufacturer of nanosilver inks designed for use with inkjet and aerosol jet systems in the development of printed antenna and sensors. Products include SunTronic nanosilver inks, which deliver the industry’s best performing low-temperature sintering properties, long open life and superior jetting performance. As a provider of functional and graphic inks for in-mould electronics (IME), Sun Chemical delivers the full IME stack, from conductors to colours. By integrating printed electronics and conventional components into moulded structures, IME delivers electronic functionality to the moulded part as well as lighter weight, less expensive manufacturing and greater durability.

In addition, Sun Chemical manufactures conductive inks, resists, dielectrics and insulators for membrane touch switches (MTS), sensors, displays, touch panels, printed antenna and solid state lighting. To support a broad variety of applications, SunTronic ECLIPSE technologies can be customized for specific printing processes, including screen, inkjet, flexographic printing, roll-to-roll coating and other print technologies. Sun Chemical offers a strong portfolio of conductive inks specially designed for flexo printing to support growing printed electronics applications for the smart packaging and label sectors.

With its acquisition of Gwent Electronic Materials Limited in 2016, Sun Chemical further strengthened its printable electronics offering with tailor-made conductive inks and pastes for biomedical sensors, electroluminescent materials, Cermet pastes for oxygen sensors, piezo, and hybrid microcircuits as well as novel materials for printed circuits.

“Canada’s support of new technologies such as printed electronics, make it an attractive place for Sun Chemical to invest in R&D,” says Rudi Lenz, president and CEO of Sun Chemical. “Given the potential of printed electronics and the current business Sun enjoys in Canada, support of the Canadian Printable Electronics Industry Association made good sense.”

Educational component grows within CPEIA membership

The CPEIA continues to build out its roster post-secondary institutions with the addition of Western University in London ON and Lambton College in Sarnia ON to its membership.

Several research teams from Western University are active in printable 3D electronics, fabrication and materials science, including the development of graphene-based inks and novel fabrication processes for printing electronic and optoelectronic circuitry onto a variety of mechanically flexible surfaces. These efforts have applications for a variety of industries, including wearable electronics for patient health monitoring. Lambton College is a college of applied arts and technology that operates Lambton Bluewater Technology Access Centre (BTAC), a specialized research and development centre that collaborates with Canadian businesses (specifically small and medium-sized enterprises – SMEs) through contract or grant funded projects to advance products, processes, technologies and services. BTAC’s area of expertise are advanced manufacturing and 3D printing. BTAC services include engineering design, prototyping, reverse engineering, metrology, process improvement, product development and testing. Additionally, BTAC provides market analysis, technology transfer and commercialization consulting support to SMEs.