DuPont Microcircuit Materials Expands Printed Electronics Research with Holst Centre Collaboration

New Focus on Flexible Substrates to Benefit Printed Electronics and Organic Photovoltaics

BRISTOL, UK, Feb. 15, 2011 – DuPont Microcircuit Materials (MCM), part of DuPont Electronics and Communications, has announced a key collaboration with Holst Centre, an independent open-innovation R&D centre set up by imec (B) and TNO (NL), focused on printed electronics. The collaboration is expected to advance technology specifically in the area of printed structures on flexible substrates, which has application in flexible display, RFID, lighting, biomedical and Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) markets.

"As one of the leading material suppliers to the printed electronics industry, DuPont MCM is pleased to collaborate with Holst Centre to enhance the potential for significant new material developments and accelerate market growth in multiple printed electronics applications,” said Kerry Adams, European business development manager – DuPont Microcircuit Materials. “We are honored to be part of such an innovative centre of excellence for the advancement of technologies in this exciting area and look forward to collaborative research with other industrial partners.”

DuPont MCM is an established high-volume supplier of electronic inks and pastes and has developed a broad range of printed electronic materials commercially available today. This growing range of DuPont MCM functional inks is used for forming conductive traces, capacitor and resistor elements, and dielectric and encapsulating layers that are compatible with many substrate surfaces including polyester, glass and ceramic.

DuPont MCM will be joining the ‘Printed Structures on Flexible Substrates’ program. The work will concentrate on optimizing printed metallic structures on flexible substrates in terms of conductivity, fine line deposition and low energy sintering. A variety of roll-to roll compatible printing techniques will be studied including screen, flexography and ink jet. Alternative conductor metallurgies will be studied as well as reactive systems for depositing conductive traces.

"We are proud to welcome DuPont to the Holst Centre ecosystem,” said Erwin Meinders, program manager Printed Structures on Flexible Substrates – Holst Centre. “DuPont has a strong reputation in functional inks. I'm confident that DuPont's participation in Holst Centre will give a boost to the further advancement of functional inks and conductive pastes, as key enablers for large-area printed electronics applications.”

DuPont Microcircuit Materials recently highlighted its printed electronics offerings at the FlexTech Alliance 10th Annual Flexible Electronics and Displays Conference & Exhibition in Phoenix, Ariz., and next will feature them at the IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe event, April 5 – 6, 2011, in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Holst Centre is an independent open-innovation R&D centre that develops generic technologies for Wireless Autonomous Sensor Technologies and for Flexible Electronics. A key feature of Holst Centre is its partnership model with industry and academia around shared roadmaps and programs. It is this kind of cross-fertilization that enables Holst Centre to tune its scientific strategy to industrial needs. Holst Centre was set up in 2005 by imec (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The Netherlands) with support from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Government of Flanders. It is named after Gilles Holst, a Dutch pioneer in Research and Development and first director of Philips Research. Located on High Tech Campus Eindhoven, Holst Centre benefits from the state-of-the-art on-site facilities. Holst Centre has over 170 employees from around 25 nationalities and a commitment from over 30 industrial partners.

DuPont Microcircuit Materials has over 40 years of experience in the development, manufacture, sale and support of specialized thick film compositions for a variety of electronic applications in the automotive, display, photovoltaic, biomedical, industrial, military and telecommunications markets. For more information on DuPont Microcircuit Materials, visit http://mcm.dupont.com.

DuPont (www.dupont.com) is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 90 countries and regions, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.

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