CIDETEC, a Spanish R&D Company Leads €4.99 Million Project to Develop Metal-Free Electronic Components
An all-female team from Cidetec, a San Sebastian-based R&D company, will lead the REFORM project.
The project seeks to become the catalyst for the creation of a green functional electronics supply chain that could replace metal and copper wiring in electronic devices and appliances.
The research team aim to replace metal wiring with bio-based conductive inks that can be printed onto recyclable materials, which can then be embedded into electronic devices.
The market for printed electronics is expected to grow to over $19 billion by 2031.
The project secured €3.59 million in funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe. programme and a further €1.4 million from UK Research and Innovation.
Cidetec, a San Sebastian-based R&D company, will lead an EU-funded project that seeks to become the catalyst for the creation of a green functional electronics supply chain that could replace metal and copper wiring in electronic devices and appliances.
Researchers working on the €4.99 million project want to replace metal wiring with bio-based conductive inks that can be printed onto recyclable materials, which can then be embedded into devices or placed on surfaces using a de-bondable, organic and reversible adhesive.
Led by an all-female team, the REFORM project has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of rare metals used in the fabrication of electronic devices and limit the proliferation of e-waste.
Project lead, Yolanda Alesanco, also believes that their research could give Europe an innovation lead in green functional electronics and contribute toward meeting the ambitions laid out in the European Green Deal.
Although typical devices contain limited amounts of metals and materials, they are produced on a massive scale. It has been estimated, for example, that there are 16 billion mobile phones in the world.
Each one of these devices contains non-renewable materials such as gold, copper, silver and palladium.
Often, these metals are embedded in ways that make extracting or recycling them extremely difficult or uneconomic.
To overcome this reality, we want to create an alternative means of constructing electronic components.
Where instead of using rare metals in devices, we employ sustainable materials such as organic adhesives, bio-based conductive inks and recyclable flexible substrates.
If we can achieve this, Europe will take the lead in this space. It will also enhance the continent’s commercial competitiveness and contribute to the ambitions outlined in the European Green Deal.
The project builds on the advances that have been made in the field of printed electronics in recent years, the market for which is expected to grow to over $19 billion by 2031.
As they are lightweight and flexible, printed electronics can be integrated into existing products and are predominately used in the automotive and transportation industry, healthcare, consumer electronics, aerospace and defence, construction and architecture, retail and packaging. However, despite having the potential to shape our lives, printed electronics have yet to be exclusively manufactured using renewable materials.
This is where REFORM’s real innovation lies, according to Ana Viñuales Head of Nanosurface Unit of CIDETEC Surface Engineering
Printed electronics employ precise inkjet printing technology to create conductive channels on substrates.
Because the process is relatively easy to replicate, printed electronics are very cost-efficient. However, the industry has yet to make that process environmentally sustainable.
We want to produce green-printed electronics that meet the needs of industry and society while consuming the least amount of resources possible. That is to say that we want to incorporate the principles of eco-design into the production of printed electronics. That is where the real innovation of this project lies.
If we’re successful, we will progress green printed electronics from early-stage research to near-market-readiness by creating functional prototypes with known market demand.
REFORM is a 42-month project and was awarded funding under the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme. The project brings together world-leading academics, non-profit research organisations, industry experts and innovative businesses from across eight different European countries.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
