BASF, Heidelberg, TU Darmstadt continue research for printed electronics

BASF headquarters in Germany.

LUDWIGSHAFEN, GERMANY: BASF SE, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) and TU Darmstadt have agreed to continue with the research after the results of the first phase of the joint research project “Nanostructuring and plastic electronics print platform” (NanoPEP). Researchers at the participating companies have been working on nano-based functional materials and the related innovative printing methods for processing these since summer 2009. The resulting applications in the field of organic electronics are based on conductive polymers and on smaller molecules of organic chemistry and are regarded as important technologies of the future offering considerable economic potential. Their areas of application extend from organic circuits and storage devices to photovoltaics and organic LEDs.

This cross-sector project is one of the heavyweight projects conducted by Leading-Edge Cluster “Forum Organic Electronics,” promoted by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF).

Significant progress has already been made in the initial project phase. The task of transferring the processes to an industrial scale over the next two years is the primary purpose of the NanoPEP2 follow-up project commenced in 2012. In addition to the ongoing development of the nanostructured materials and the associated printing methods, practical demonstrators will be used to show the functionality of the printed components.

The Institute for Printing Presses and Printing Methods at Technische Universitat Darmstadt is working on a model for defining the key production parameters. Printable organic electronics requires entirely new materials, which are developed by BASF experts in the project field of nanostructuring. In parallel, BASF researchers are developing printable suspensions for organic electronics that can be processed at low temperatures.