Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration

*Bilge Nazli Altay, Martin Bolduc and Sylvain G. Cloutier*

## **Abstract**

Printing technologies have become a novel and disruptive innovation method of manufacturing electronic components to produce a diverse range of devices including photovoltaic cells, solar panels, energy harvesters, batteries, light sources, and sensors on really thin, lightweight, and flexible substrates. In traditional electronic manufacturing, a functional layer must be deposited, typically through a chemical vapor or physical vapor process for a copper layer for circuitry production. These subtractive techniques involve multiple production steps and use toxic etching chemicals to remove unwanted photoresist layers and metals. In printing, the same functional material can be selectively deposited only where it is needed on the substrate via plates or print heads. The process is additive and significantly reduces not only the number of manufacturing steps, but also the need for energy, time, consumables, as well as the waste. Thereby, printing has been in the focus for many applications as a green, efficient, energy-saving, environmentally friendly manufacturing method. This chapter presents a general vision on green energy resources and then details printed electronics that consolidates green energy and environment relative to traditional manufacturing system.

**Keywords:** additive manufacturing, printing, flexible electronics, functional inks, subtractive manufacturing

## **1. Green energy, environment, and electronics**

Sustainable and renewable green energy and materials as an alternative to fossil fuels that take millions of years to be developed have been the most important challenge for all industries to secure the future energy demands, environment, and human health [1]. Burning fossil fuels for energy, production and transportation of fossil fuel-based materials, industrial/agricultural activities, as well as growing population yield greenhouse gasses (GHGs) that trap heat in the atmosphere [2]. The GHGs remain in the air for various amounts of time, from a few to thousands of years, causing global heating and drastic changes in climate [3, 4]. Therefore, innovations in all fields are critically important to reduce the GHGs, unsustainable energy and material usage, cost, toxic waste, and pollution which are the potential risks on human health and environment [5].

Worldwide energy consumption by source recorded to be an average of 18.4 trillion watts (TW) in 2018 [6]. **Figure 1** represents that the majority of the energy was based on fossil energy sources. For the future, the total consumption is projected to be 27.6 TW by 2050 and 43.0 TW by 2100 [7]. Researchers help formulating solutions to increase green energy production that comes from the natural sources such as solar, wind, ocean or tidal, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy. They are also called C-neutral sources [7]. Among these, solar energy is the largest source that enables more energy in an hour to the Earth than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year (if only this energy could be stored) [1]. Each energy sources have different potential to provide the projected power need. The theoretical delivery potentials of green sources in **Table 1** represents that using direct radiation from the sun is by far the only biggest source of energy [7].

The sun is a massive reactor where hydrogen atoms are fused into helium. The energy from this reaction is released into space in the form of radiation that creates electromagnetic energy—the entire range of light that exist (**Figure 2**). By using various technologies (solar panels and photovoltaics (PV)), the solar radiation can be turned into heat and electricity [8].

vapor molecules (O2, O3, H2O, CO2, etc.), called *absorption of light*. If the light comes on particles that are smaller than the wavelength of the radiation in the atmosphere, *Rayleigh scattering* occurs (mostly seen in gasses) and causes for instance the blue color of the sky. On the contrary, the particles larger than the wavelength of the radiation cause *Mie scattering* that happens due to aerosols and dust particles in the air. Therefore, the solar resource is broken down into three main components: (1) diffuse solar radiation (the light that are scattered), (2) direct beam solar radiation (the light that pass through the atmosphere), and (3) global solar radiation (the sum of (1) and (2)). The energy available from the sun that

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration*

**Figure 2.**

**Figure 3.**

**3**

*Schematics of a conventional solar panel at different tilting angles.*

*Electromagnetic spectrum [9].*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

reaches the Earth, called *solar constant*, is considered to be 1367 W/m2

due to the diffusion caused by the scatterings, usually 1000 W/m2 (at 25°C, AM1.5G spectrum) is used to describe 1 day atmospheric condition for the standard test conditions of efficiency estimations of solar power [11]. The diffuse light is also known to limit the power generation efficiency of solar panels, alongside with the limited angle placement options for the rigid panel orientation (**Figure 3**), geographical location, time of the day, season, local landscape, and weather [12].

The basic working principle of solar panel is converting light energy directly into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. The panel is usually constructed by an n-type and p-type semiconductor material (silicon based in general) between the two metal conductor layers (**Figure 4**). The n-type semiconductor has extra electrons that carry negative charge, while the positive p-type semiconductor has

. However,

Part of the light radiated from the sun does not reach to the Earth due to various reasons [10]. Some portion for instance is reflected from the atmosphere back into the space, called *reflection of light*. Other portion is absorbed by the gasses and water

**Figure 1.** *Global energy consumption [6].*


### **Table 1.**

*Energy delivery estimates of green energy sources.*

### *Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

**Figure 2.** *Electromagnetic spectrum [9].*

Worldwide energy consumption by source recorded to be an average of 18.4 trillion watts (TW) in 2018 [6]. **Figure 1** represents that the majority of the energy

The sun is a massive reactor where hydrogen atoms are fused into helium. The energy from this reaction is released into space in the form of radiation that creates electromagnetic energy—the entire range of light that exist (**Figure 2**). By using various technologies (solar panels and photovoltaics (PV)), the solar radiation can

Part of the light radiated from the sun does not reach to the Earth due to various reasons [10]. Some portion for instance is reflected from the atmosphere back into the space, called *reflection of light*. Other portion is absorbed by the gasses and water

**Green energy source Theoretical potential (TW)**

Solar energy 89,000 TWp Wind 1000 TWm Geothermal 44 TWt Hydropower 12 TWm Ocean tidal 2.4 TWm

was based on fossil energy sources. For the future, the total consumption is projected to be 27.6 TW by 2050 and 43.0 TW by 2100 [7]. Researchers help formulating solutions to increase green energy production that comes from the natural sources such as solar, wind, ocean or tidal, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy. They are also called C-neutral sources [7]. Among these, solar energy is the largest source that enables more energy in an hour to the Earth than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year (if only this energy could be stored) [1]. Each energy sources have different potential to provide the projected power need. The theoretical delivery potentials of green sources in **Table 1** represents that using direct radiation from the sun is by far the only biggest source of

energy [7].

*Green Energy and Environment*

**Figure 1.**

**Table 1.**

**2**

*Global energy consumption [6].*

*Subscripts denote mechanical, photonic, and thermal.*

*Energy delivery estimates of green energy sources.*

be turned into heat and electricity [8].

vapor molecules (O2, O3, H2O, CO2, etc.), called *absorption of light*. If the light comes on particles that are smaller than the wavelength of the radiation in the atmosphere, *Rayleigh scattering* occurs (mostly seen in gasses) and causes for instance the blue color of the sky. On the contrary, the particles larger than the wavelength of the radiation cause *Mie scattering* that happens due to aerosols and dust particles in the air. Therefore, the solar resource is broken down into three main components: (1) diffuse solar radiation (the light that are scattered), (2) direct beam solar radiation (the light that pass through the atmosphere), and (3) global solar radiation (the sum of (1) and (2)). The energy available from the sun that reaches the Earth, called *solar constant*, is considered to be 1367 W/m2 . However, due to the diffusion caused by the scatterings, usually 1000 W/m2 (at 25°C, AM1.5G spectrum) is used to describe 1 day atmospheric condition for the standard test conditions of efficiency estimations of solar power [11]. The diffuse light is also known to limit the power generation efficiency of solar panels, alongside with the limited angle placement options for the rigid panel orientation (**Figure 3**), geographical location, time of the day, season, local landscape, and weather [12].

The basic working principle of solar panel is converting light energy directly into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. The panel is usually constructed by an n-type and p-type semiconductor material (silicon based in general) between the two metal conductor layers (**Figure 4**). The n-type semiconductor has extra electrons that carry negative charge, while the positive p-type semiconductor has

**Figure 3.** *Schematics of a conventional solar panel at different tilting angles.*

**2. Traditional electronic manufacturing vs. printed electronics**

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration*

recycled feedstock in plastic parts, and lead-fee production [14].

Printing has received immense attention due to the additive nature of the manufacturing [15]. During printing, functional materials (or the so-called conductive/smart inks) can be patterned by selective deposition on where they are needed by the print heads in the case of digital printing, such as inkjet, 3D printing, and aerosol (**Figure 7**) or by the printing plates. Different functional materials are printed in a layer-on-layer manner, then followed by a curing process that forms necking between the pigment particles [16]. The additive approach and high production capability of the printing presses significantly reduce production cost, number of manufacturing steps, and the need for energy, time, and consumables, as well as offer great reduction in waste compared to traditional photolithography manufacturing. Printing allows sheet-to-sheet or roll-to-roll mass production; thereby electronics can be manufactured not only on rigid, but also on thin,

Traditional electronic manufacturing requires multiple production steps as illustrated in **Figure 6** [16]. First, a functional layer must be deposited on a substrate, typically through a chemical vapor or physical vapor process, for a copper layer production. The most common substrate used for the circuit board is a glass fiberreinforced epoxy resin. Then, a photoresist layer is deposited on the substrate and experiences exposing, developing and curing processes. The next is the use of harsh etching chemicals to remove the photoresist layer and the unwanted metal that is not covered by the photoresist. The last step is striping the resist material and cleaning all the residues away. The entire manufacturing processes are highly timeand energy consuming, costly, and inherently wasteful. One main approach for green electronic manufacturing is called the three R's—"remanufacture, reduce, reuse/recycle"—focused on minimizing the use of energy, hazardous materials, toxic waste and pollution, and coolant consumption while machining, while promoting product take-back policies, the use of reusable/recyclable components,

**2.1 Traditional electronic manufacturing**

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

**2.2 Printed electronics manufacturing**

**Figure 6.**

**5**

*Subtractive manufacturing steps [16].*

**Figure 4.** *Illustration of sunlight conversion to electricity.*

missing electrons. When the light photons are absorbed, the extra electrons of the n-type get free (the so-called holes) and forced to travel in the electron transport layer by the top conductor. Meanwhile, the conductor on the bottom layer forces the missing positive electrons to travel in the transport layer. These moving electron–hole pairs induce the DC electric current formation that is converted into AC in the inverter unit of the solar system. In the case of solar heating (**Figure 5**), a panel of tubes heats up the water through the absorbed light energy and redistributes into the building for heating, air conditioning, and hot water usage.

Between the global energy need for electricity and heating, 10% is estimated to be for illumination purpose, while 90% is for the heat used to make products and to heat and cool buildings and homes and the energy used to drive motor vehicles [1]. One of the most critical factors is understanding not only how to produce the green energy, but also how to remanufacture, reduce, and reuse/recycle electronic products that use this energy. Thereby, as much as the effort goes into producing green energy from natural sources, the same effort is needed for electronic manufacturing since an electronic circuit is found in a surprising number of devices that we use in our daily life: from lighting to domestic/industrial appliances; from computers and its accessories to communication devices and cameras; from vehicle electronics to medical devices; or from the products that use displaying units, controlling apparatus, and switches to alarm systems and toys. The circuitry use is almost endless.

**Figure 5.** *Illustration of traditional solar water heating (edited) [13].*

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

## **2. Traditional electronic manufacturing vs. printed electronics**

## **2.1 Traditional electronic manufacturing**

Traditional electronic manufacturing requires multiple production steps as illustrated in **Figure 6** [16]. First, a functional layer must be deposited on a substrate, typically through a chemical vapor or physical vapor process, for a copper layer production. The most common substrate used for the circuit board is a glass fiberreinforced epoxy resin. Then, a photoresist layer is deposited on the substrate and experiences exposing, developing and curing processes. The next is the use of harsh etching chemicals to remove the photoresist layer and the unwanted metal that is not covered by the photoresist. The last step is striping the resist material and cleaning all the residues away. The entire manufacturing processes are highly timeand energy consuming, costly, and inherently wasteful. One main approach for green electronic manufacturing is called the three R's—"remanufacture, reduce, reuse/recycle"—focused on minimizing the use of energy, hazardous materials, toxic waste and pollution, and coolant consumption while machining, while promoting product take-back policies, the use of reusable/recyclable components, recycled feedstock in plastic parts, and lead-fee production [14].

### **2.2 Printed electronics manufacturing**

Printing has received immense attention due to the additive nature of the manufacturing [15]. During printing, functional materials (or the so-called conductive/smart inks) can be patterned by selective deposition on where they are needed by the print heads in the case of digital printing, such as inkjet, 3D printing, and aerosol (**Figure 7**) or by the printing plates. Different functional materials are printed in a layer-on-layer manner, then followed by a curing process that forms necking between the pigment particles [16]. The additive approach and high production capability of the printing presses significantly reduce production cost, number of manufacturing steps, and the need for energy, time, and consumables, as well as offer great reduction in waste compared to traditional photolithography manufacturing. Printing allows sheet-to-sheet or roll-to-roll mass production; thereby electronics can be manufactured not only on rigid, but also on thin,

**Figure 6.** *Subtractive manufacturing steps [16].*

missing electrons. When the light photons are absorbed, the extra electrons of the n-type get free (the so-called holes) and forced to travel in the electron transport layer by the top conductor. Meanwhile, the conductor on the bottom layer forces the missing positive electrons to travel in the transport layer. These moving electron–hole pairs induce the DC electric current formation that is converted into AC in the inverter unit of the solar system. In the case of solar heating (**Figure 5**), a panel of tubes heats up the water through the absorbed light energy and redistrib-

Between the global energy need for electricity and heating, 10% is estimated to be for illumination purpose, while 90% is for the heat used to make products and to heat and cool buildings and homes and the energy used to drive motor vehicles [1]. One of the most critical factors is understanding not only how to produce the green energy, but also how to remanufacture, reduce, and reuse/recycle electronic products that use this energy. Thereby, as much as the effort goes into producing green energy from natural sources, the same effort is needed for electronic manufacturing since an electronic circuit is found in a surprising number of devices that we use in our daily life: from lighting to domestic/industrial appliances; from computers and its accessories to communication devices and cameras; from vehicle electronics to medical devices; or from the products that use displaying units, controlling apparatus, and switches to alarm systems and toys. The circuitry use is almost

utes into the building for heating, air conditioning, and hot water usage.

endless.

**Figure 5.**

**4**

*Illustration of traditional solar water heating (edited) [13].*

**Figure 4.**

*Illustration of sunlight conversion to electricity.*

*Green Energy and Environment*

**Figure 7.** *Additive manufacturing steps [16].*

lightweight, flexible, and large area substrates [17–22]. Printing technologies and the pluriformity of substrates open up launching brand new products that could have never existed before and realize bendable, rollable, wearable, or elastically stretchable devices. These printed electronics (PE) are environmentally friendly when compared to the traditional electronic methods. PEs are lightweight and not made with extremely harsh etching chemicals, and they do not occupy a massive amount of space in landfills. If the aim is to be green and sustainable, then printing technologies are certainly the future.

Printing techniques include conventional printing systems that require an intermediate printing plate to transfer a pattern (flexography, gravure, screen, and offset lithography) and nonimpact printing systems that print the pattern directly onto the substrates (digital and 3D) (**Figure 8**) [23]. However, nonprinting systems (liquid dispensing, aerosol) and coating systems (rod, blade, air knife metering) can also be used to dispense functional materials. The difference between the printing technologies originates from the ink characteristics (i.e., viscosity, rheology, surface tension), substrate types (i.e., papers, films, textiles), and printability properties (i.e., ink film thickness, resolution, speed, line quality) [24, 25]. **Table 2** shows some of the printed feature size capabilities of printing processes for PE applications.

In recent years, the advancements in digital inkjet printing technologies have shown great promises for printed electronics. Akin to more conventional additive manufacturing strategies such as using screen printing, digital inkjet printing has been rapidly and successfully applied for rapid prototyping, low-volume production, and hybrid integration of critical components for a wide range of optoelectronic applications including energy harvesting, wearables, and biomedical sensors [26, 27].

*2.2.1 Functional inks*

**Figure 9.**

**Table 3.**

**7**

*applications [38].*

**Table 2.**

There are PE components that have been researched and fabricated using these printing techniques such as solar cells, displays, and transistors [28–31]. Similar to subtractive electronic manufacturing, PE components (**Figure 9**) require specific inks to provide functionalities like conductivity, resistivity, semi-conductivity, or

*Printed electronics samples: circuit printed with nano-silver ink [35], printed sensor that shows food spoilage [36], smart box packaging that enables end-of-life display by color change [37], and various lighting*

**Property Screen Flexo Gravure Inkjet** Viscosity (cP) 500–5000 50–500 100–1000 10–20 Minimum trace width (μ) 30–50 5–50 5–25 3–20 Minimum trace spacing (μ) 50–100 20–30 10–25 10–20 Ink film thickness (μ) 0.5–200 0.25–4 0.25–6 0.05–20

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration*

The materials listed in **Table 3** present common functional pigments used in ink formulations. A typical ink formulation includes binders, vehicles, and additives besides the pigments [32]. Binders are the chemicals binding formulation

Conductors Copper, silver, gold, carbon, aluminum, nickel, indium tin oxide, tin, graphene, graphene oxide, PEDOT:PSS, polyaniline, iron, graphite [39–58] Semiconductors Zinc oxide, silicon, zinc selenide, indium-gallium-zinc oxide, cadmium selenide,

Resistors Aluminum oxide, hafnium dioxide, poly(4-vinylphenol), spin-on glass, parylene,

color change by heat, light, moisture, pressure, or spoilage.

**Functionality Pigment type**

gallium arsenide, MALH [59–64]

solid electrolytes [65–72]

*Functional pigment examples for PE applications [16].*

*Common printed feature size of printing processes for PE applications.*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

*Classification of printing technologies based on printing plate requirement [23].*

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*


**Table 2.**

lightweight, flexible, and large area substrates [17–22]. Printing technologies and the pluriformity of substrates open up launching brand new products that could have never existed before and realize bendable, rollable, wearable, or elastically stretchable devices. These printed electronics (PE) are environmentally friendly when compared to the traditional electronic methods. PEs are lightweight and not made with extremely harsh etching chemicals, and they do not occupy a massive amount of space in landfills. If the aim is to be green and sustainable, then printing

Printing techniques include conventional printing systems that require an intermediate printing plate to transfer a pattern (flexography, gravure, screen, and offset lithography) and nonimpact printing systems that print the pattern directly onto the substrates (digital and 3D) (**Figure 8**) [23]. However, nonprinting systems (liquid dispensing, aerosol) and coating systems (rod, blade, air knife metering) can also be used to dispense functional materials. The difference between the printing technologies originates from the ink characteristics (i.e., viscosity, rheology, surface tension), substrate types (i.e., papers, films, textiles), and printability properties (i.e., ink film thickness, resolution, speed, line quality) [24, 25]. **Table 2** shows some of the printed

In recent years, the advancements in digital inkjet printing technologies have shown great promises for printed electronics. Akin to more conventional additive manufacturing strategies such as using screen printing, digital inkjet printing has

feature size capabilities of printing processes for PE applications.

*Classification of printing technologies based on printing plate requirement [23].*

been rapidly and successfully applied for rapid prototyping, low-volume production, and hybrid integration of critical components for a wide range of optoelectronic applications including energy harvesting, wearables, and biomedical

technologies are certainly the future.

sensors [26, 27].

**Figure 8.**

**6**

**Figure 7.**

*Additive manufacturing steps [16].*

*Green Energy and Environment*

*Common printed feature size of printing processes for PE applications.*

### **Figure 9.**

*Printed electronics samples: circuit printed with nano-silver ink [35], printed sensor that shows food spoilage [36], smart box packaging that enables end-of-life display by color change [37], and various lighting applications [38].*

### *2.2.1 Functional inks*

There are PE components that have been researched and fabricated using these printing techniques such as solar cells, displays, and transistors [28–31]. Similar to subtractive electronic manufacturing, PE components (**Figure 9**) require specific inks to provide functionalities like conductivity, resistivity, semi-conductivity, or color change by heat, light, moisture, pressure, or spoilage.

The materials listed in **Table 3** present common functional pigments used in ink formulations. A typical ink formulation includes binders, vehicles, and additives besides the pigments [32]. Binders are the chemicals binding formulation


### **Table 3.**

*Functional pigment examples for PE applications [16].*

ingredients to each other and to the substrate. Vehicle is the liquid portion of the formulation that carries the ink onto the substrates. Generally, ink formulations are classified based on the vehicle type, such as water-based, solvent-based, ultraviolet light/electron beam (UV/EB) based, or soy-based. Additives are used for supplementary properties, such as promoting stability, or preventing oxidation, flocculation, etc. [33]. In PE applications, binders and some of the additives act as an insulator and reduce the conductivity. There are studies that suggest binder-free formulations that reverse this impact and enhance conductivity [34].

In terms of solar energy harvesting, lighting and displays, and sensing applications, the research has pioneered new and better low-cost and printable optoelectronic materials and devices. Methylammonium lead halide (MALH) perovskites for instance (e.g., CH3NH3PbX3, X either I, Cl or Br) have shown great potential due to their unique optoelectronic properties and the ability to replace P-N junctions for various applications including light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and photodetectors [64]. The power-conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices has been reported to increase from 3.8% in 2009 [73] to 22.1% in 2016 [74, 75]. Such progress is largely attributed to improved processing and longer charge-carrier lifetimes directly related to increased material quality. Yet, fundamental challenges including low carrier mobilities still prevent the fabrication of large-area devices with performances competing with state-of-the-art technologies [76].

### *2.2.2 Substrates*

The thermal and mechanical stability of substrates are critically important for the precise registration of functional ink layers upon each other to create PE components (i.e., electroluminescence lamp, capacitors, organic light-emitting diodes). Polymer films [77], papers [19, 78], flexible glass [79], textiles [80], and metal [81] have been given significant consideration as a substrate material. In PE applications, substrates either act as a base material to mechanically support electrical components such as circuit board [82], or as a top material for touch panels and display and lighting applications [83], or as an interlayer in batteries as separator membranes [84].

decomposing the binder (**Figure 10**) [87, 88]. The main types of post-printing methods are listed as microwave heating and electrical, spark plasma, laser, and

*Comparison of substrate properties for flexible backplane application.*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

**Property Unit Glass Plastics Stainless steel** Weight g/m2 250 120 800 Safe bending radius cm 40 4 4 R2R processable — Unlikely Yes Yes Transparency — Yes Yes/some No Maximum process temperature °C 600 180–300 1000 Coefficient thermal expansion ppm/°C 4 16 10 Elastic modulus GPa 70 5 200 Permeable to oxygen, water vapor — No Yes No Coefficient of hydrolytic expansion ppm/RH% None 11 None Electrical conductivity — None None High Thermal conductivity W/m°C 1 0.1–0.2 16

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration*

Photonic sintering has attracted great attention within the main types of sintering methods due to the instant heating applied during exposure, followed by an instant cooling, which is advantageous especially for the substrates with low glass transition temperatures. A pulse light from a xenon gas-filled flash lamp heats the functional ink layer in milliseconds beyond the maximum working temperature of the substrate. Then, the heat is removed rapidly in the interface of the substrate via conduction thanks to the thermal mass of the substrate and prevents structural degradation [90]. Three transient sintering conditions that are essential for an

The heat applied during curing volatilizes vehicle component of an ink formulation that allows functional pigments to contact each other. Sintering, on the other hand, is the process of pigment grain growth in the crystalline structure in the printed ink layer. However, the terms are used interchangeably. Sintering process requires optimization for each substrate as well as ink formulations since the chemical composition of the ink, particle size, shape and distribution, or degree of agglomeration varies. Different sintering parameters such as temperature, energy, time, or the atmosphere (ambient vs. inert) also cause variation in the performance of the same material. **Figure 11** shows an example of the effect of photonic energy variation on the sheet resistance of printed nickel ink [16]. As the energy applied

photonic sintering [89].

*Illustration of interparticle necking.*

**Table 4.**

**Figure 10.**

**9**

increases, the sheet resistance decreases.

optimum photonic processing have been reported:

The quality and type of the substrate affect electrical, optical, mechanical, and magnetic properties of the functional ink layer [85] as well as economics [48]; therefore, its properties need to be engineered depending on the application. For instance, defects on the surface of the substrates may lead to pinholes and block electron flow in circuitry [77]. General requirements of substrates for PE include flexibility, transparency, surface smoothness, low thermal expansion, stiffness, heat resistance, low cost, thinness, and lightweight [86]. **Table 4** presents different properties of substrates having the same 100 μm thickness for flexible backplane applications (glass, plastic films [PEN and PI], and stainless steel) [22].

### *2.2.3 Post-printing process*

In printing industry, drying is performed with an oven or via UV lamps; however, the inks used for PE applications require higher temperatures for densification or crystallization to function properly. Once the functional ink layer is printed, the post-printing process is needed to enable connectivity in pigment particles, so the printed ink layer can conduct electricity (**Figure 7**). The connectivity is accomplished by means of one or multiple processes: drying, curing, sintering, reactive chemistry transformation, and annealing. These post processes change ink structure by volatilizing vehicle of the ink and form interparticle necking between the pigment particles that grow particle grain to form continuous functional layer, while

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*


### **Table 4.**

ingredients to each other and to the substrate. Vehicle is the liquid portion of the formulation that carries the ink onto the substrates. Generally, ink formulations are classified based on the vehicle type, such as water-based, solvent-based, ultraviolet light/electron beam (UV/EB) based, or soy-based. Additives are used for supplementary properties, such as promoting stability, or preventing oxidation, flocculation, etc. [33]. In PE applications, binders and some of the additives act as an insulator and reduce the conductivity. There are studies that suggest binder-free

In terms of solar energy harvesting, lighting and displays, and sensing applications, the research has pioneered new and better low-cost and printable optoelectronic materials and devices. Methylammonium lead halide (MALH) perovskites for instance (e.g., CH3NH3PbX3, X either I, Cl or Br) have shown great potential due to their unique optoelectronic properties and the ability to replace P-N junctions for various applications including light-emitting diodes, solar cells, and photodetectors [64]. The power-conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices has been reported to increase from 3.8% in 2009 [73] to 22.1% in 2016 [74, 75]. Such progress is largely attributed to improved processing and longer charge-carrier lifetimes directly related to increased material quality. Yet, fundamental challenges including low carrier mobilities still prevent the fabrication of large-area devices with perfor-

The thermal and mechanical stability of substrates are critically important for the precise registration of functional ink layers upon each other to create PE components (i.e., electroluminescence lamp, capacitors, organic light-emitting diodes). Polymer films [77], papers [19, 78], flexible glass [79], textiles [80], and metal [81] have been given significant consideration as a substrate material. In PE applications, substrates either act as a base material to mechanically support electrical components such as circuit board [82], or as a top material for touch panels and display and lighting applications [83], or as an interlayer in batteries as separator mem-

The quality and type of the substrate affect electrical, optical, mechanical, and magnetic properties of the functional ink layer [85] as well as economics [48]; therefore, its properties need to be engineered depending on the application. For instance, defects on the surface of the substrates may lead to pinholes and block electron flow in circuitry [77]. General requirements of substrates for PE include flexibility, transparency, surface smoothness, low thermal expansion, stiffness, heat resistance, low cost, thinness, and lightweight [86]. **Table 4** presents different properties of substrates having the same 100 μm thickness for flexible backplane

In printing industry, drying is performed with an oven or via UV lamps; however, the inks used for PE applications require higher temperatures for densification or crystallization to function properly. Once the functional ink layer is printed, the post-printing process is needed to enable connectivity in pigment particles, so the printed ink layer can conduct electricity (**Figure 7**). The connectivity is accomplished by means of one or multiple processes: drying, curing, sintering, reactive chemistry transformation, and annealing. These post processes change ink structure by volatilizing vehicle of the ink and form interparticle necking between the pigment particles that grow particle grain to form continuous functional layer, while

applications (glass, plastic films [PEN and PI], and stainless steel) [22].

formulations that reverse this impact and enhance conductivity [34].

mances competing with state-of-the-art technologies [76].

*2.2.2 Substrates*

*Green Energy and Environment*

branes [84].

**8**

*2.2.3 Post-printing process*

*Comparison of substrate properties for flexible backplane application.*

**Figure 10.** *Illustration of interparticle necking.*

decomposing the binder (**Figure 10**) [87, 88]. The main types of post-printing methods are listed as microwave heating and electrical, spark plasma, laser, and photonic sintering [89].

The heat applied during curing volatilizes vehicle component of an ink formulation that allows functional pigments to contact each other. Sintering, on the other hand, is the process of pigment grain growth in the crystalline structure in the printed ink layer. However, the terms are used interchangeably. Sintering process requires optimization for each substrate as well as ink formulations since the chemical composition of the ink, particle size, shape and distribution, or degree of agglomeration varies. Different sintering parameters such as temperature, energy, time, or the atmosphere (ambient vs. inert) also cause variation in the performance of the same material. **Figure 11** shows an example of the effect of photonic energy variation on the sheet resistance of printed nickel ink [16]. As the energy applied increases, the sheet resistance decreases.

Photonic sintering has attracted great attention within the main types of sintering methods due to the instant heating applied during exposure, followed by an instant cooling, which is advantageous especially for the substrates with low glass transition temperatures. A pulse light from a xenon gas-filled flash lamp heats the functional ink layer in milliseconds beyond the maximum working temperature of the substrate. Then, the heat is removed rapidly in the interface of the substrate via conduction thanks to the thermal mass of the substrate and prevents structural degradation [90]. Three transient sintering conditions that are essential for an optimum photonic processing have been reported:

ink film thickness < substrate thickness

pulse of photonic light duration < thermal equilibration time of substrate thermal equilibration time of ink film < pulse of photonic light duration

The thermal equilibration time of materials (τi) (s) is provided in Eq. (1), where Ki is the thermal conductivity (W/m K), ρ<sup>i</sup> is the density (kg/m<sup>3</sup> ), cpi is the specific heat (W s/kg K), and xi is the thickness ink layer (m):

$$\mathbf{\pi}\_{\mathrm{i}} = \mathbf{c}\_{\mathrm{pi}} \mathbf{\rho}\_{\mathrm{i}} \mathbf{x}\_{\mathrm{i}}^{2} / 4 \mathbf{K}\_{\mathrm{i}} \tag{1}$$

equilibrates below 200°C in less than two milliseconds, which is too short for substrate to observe any deformation. Photonic sintering enables significant reduction both in processing time and energy in comparison to conventional oven that uses high temperature and processing time ranging from several minutes to hours.

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration*

In today's world, technological innovations accelerate at a much faster rate than before due to the more networked environment, advanced computers, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) tools, Internet of Things (IoT), and the speed of connectivity considering the ubiquitous information and communication technologies through Internet access, cloud computing, and smartphones [5, 91]. The innovations in the printed electronics area derive mostly from flexible and conformable disruptive device designs and structures (single or multilayer circuit constructions, sensors), formulation of materials (inks, substrates), and manufacturing process design (printing, post-printing, assembly). The performance of printed devices is mainly dependent on the complex ink formulation, adhesion, and the interactions between the inks and substrates to produce materials that can withstand postprinting, assembly, and environmental processes [48, 92, 93]. Therefore, most material providers follow closed innovation model and keep proprietary rights for their complex material formulation, processes, and methods to stabilize their posi-

The most common issues with the traditional screen-printed circuit

manufacturing market are the limitation of printing finely spaced traces (**Figure 13 (a)**), the printing process that requires new platemaking phase at each design and client change (**Figure 13(b-c)**), and the usage of high ink amount during printing which generates large amount of waste materials that has fairly complex disposal handling process (**Figure 13(d)**). In contrast, digitally printed electronic circuit manufacturing (**Figure 13(e)**) allows instantaneous design modification by simply changing the Gerber design file as well as dramatically reduces the material consumption [94]. The digital inkjet system is a rapidly emerging technology that could be in-lined to a hybrid automated component assembly pick-and-place robot systems (**Figure 13(f)**) where large-scale advanced manufacturing strategies can be explored as a potential way to reach seamless manufacturing of high volumes and open entirely new markets. However, the inkjet printing of functional inks requires

**3. Emerging advanced electronics manufacturing**

*Thermal profile simulation of nickel ink on a SBS paperboard.*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

tion in the market [5].

**11**

**Figure 12.**

The thermal properties in **Table 5**, three transient conditions in **Table 6**, and the thermal profile presented in **Figure 12** exemplify photonic sintering of a 36-μmthick nickel ink film printed on a 250-μm-thick solid bleached sulfate (SBS) paperboard that is processed at �5 J/m<sup>2</sup> photonic energy that provides 12 <sup>Ω</sup>/⃞ of sheet resistance [16]. A millisecond of two overlapped light pulse heats the surface of printed nickel ink to a temperature between 350 and 500°C. Thanks to the rapid cooling, the temperature in the interface, 20 μm depth of the paperboard, reaches only 200–320°C. Although the ignition temperature of paper is 233°C, the heat

**Figure 11.**

*Sheet resistance of printed Ni ink.*


### **Table 5.**

*Thermal properties of the ink and substrate.*


**Table 6.**

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

**Figure 12.** *Thermal profile simulation of nickel ink on a SBS paperboard.*

ink film thickness < substrate thickness

*Green Energy and Environment*

pulse of photonic light duration < thermal equilibration time of substrate thermal equilibration time of ink film < pulse of photonic light duration

<sup>τ</sup><sup>i</sup> <sup>¼</sup> cpiρix2

**Factors** *c*pi *ρ<sup>i</sup> xi Ki***s** *τ<sup>i</sup>* Nickel ink <sup>440</sup> 8908 0.000036 90.9 1.4 � <sup>10</sup>�<sup>5</sup> SBS <sup>1400</sup> <sup>900</sup> 0.000250 0.05 3.9 � <sup>10</sup>�<sup>2</sup>

Ink film thickness < substrate thickness 36 μm < 250 μm Pulse light time < substrate thermal equilibration time 0.001 s < 0.039 s Ink thermal equilibration time < pulse light time 0.000014 s < 0.001 s

Ki is the thermal conductivity (W/m K), ρ<sup>i</sup> is the density (kg/m<sup>3</sup>

heat (W s/kg K), and xi is the thickness ink layer (m):

**Figure 11.**

**Table 5.**

**Table 6.**

**10**

*Three transient conditions.*

**Factors**

*Sheet resistance of printed Ni ink.*

*Thermal properties of the ink and substrate.*

The thermal equilibration time of materials (τi) (s) is provided in Eq. (1), where

The thermal properties in **Table 5**, three transient conditions in **Table 6**, and the thermal profile presented in **Figure 12** exemplify photonic sintering of a 36-μmthick nickel ink film printed on a 250-μm-thick solid bleached sulfate (SBS) paperboard that is processed at �5 J/m<sup>2</sup> photonic energy that provides 12 <sup>Ω</sup>/⃞ of sheet resistance [16]. A millisecond of two overlapped light pulse heats the surface of printed nickel ink to a temperature between 350 and 500°C. Thanks to the rapid cooling, the temperature in the interface, 20 μm depth of the paperboard, reaches only 200–320°C. Although the ignition temperature of paper is 233°C, the heat

), cpi is the specific

<sup>i</sup> *=*4Ki (1)

equilibrates below 200°C in less than two milliseconds, which is too short for substrate to observe any deformation. Photonic sintering enables significant reduction both in processing time and energy in comparison to conventional oven that uses high temperature and processing time ranging from several minutes to hours.

## **3. Emerging advanced electronics manufacturing**

In today's world, technological innovations accelerate at a much faster rate than before due to the more networked environment, advanced computers, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) tools, Internet of Things (IoT), and the speed of connectivity considering the ubiquitous information and communication technologies through Internet access, cloud computing, and smartphones [5, 91]. The innovations in the printed electronics area derive mostly from flexible and conformable disruptive device designs and structures (single or multilayer circuit constructions, sensors), formulation of materials (inks, substrates), and manufacturing process design (printing, post-printing, assembly). The performance of printed devices is mainly dependent on the complex ink formulation, adhesion, and the interactions between the inks and substrates to produce materials that can withstand postprinting, assembly, and environmental processes [48, 92, 93]. Therefore, most material providers follow closed innovation model and keep proprietary rights for their complex material formulation, processes, and methods to stabilize their position in the market [5].

The most common issues with the traditional screen-printed circuit manufacturing market are the limitation of printing finely spaced traces (**Figure 13 (a)**), the printing process that requires new platemaking phase at each design and client change (**Figure 13(b-c)**), and the usage of high ink amount during printing which generates large amount of waste materials that has fairly complex disposal handling process (**Figure 13(d)**). In contrast, digitally printed electronic circuit manufacturing (**Figure 13(e)**) allows instantaneous design modification by simply changing the Gerber design file as well as dramatically reduces the material consumption [94]. The digital inkjet system is a rapidly emerging technology that could be in-lined to a hybrid automated component assembly pick-and-place robot systems (**Figure 13(f)**) where large-scale advanced manufacturing strategies can be explored as a potential way to reach seamless manufacturing of high volumes and open entirely new markets. However, the inkjet printing of functional inks requires

daily life. Manufacturing digitally printed electronic circuits is a sustainable method that dramatically reduces high energy consumption and toxic etching chemical usage relative to traditional electronic manufacturing. Advanced printed electronics is truly a transdisciplinary research and production landscape that benefit greatly from strongly intertwined interrelationships between multiple diverse complementary fields, including material formulation engineering, printable electronic devices architecturing, computational robotics and process automation, and AI and process optimization. It is important to adopt an agile mindset for a complete ecosystem to conduct transformative R&D for disruptive and advanced printed electronics

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration*

This study was supported in part by the Scientific and Technological Research

Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under the 2214-A program.

Bilge Nazli Altay1,2,3\*, Martin Bolduc1,4 and Sylvain G. Cloutier<sup>1</sup>

\*Address all correspondence to: bilgenazli.altay@wmich.edu

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, École de Technologie SupÉrieure,

2 Institute of Science and Technology, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

3 Department of Chemical and Paper Engineering, Western Michigan University,

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

manufacturing solutions.

**Acknowledgements**

**Conflict of interest**

**Author details**

MI, USA

**13**

Montréal, QC, Canada

4 Varitron, Saint-Hubert, QC, Canada

provided the original work is properly cited.

There is no conflict of interest.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

### **Figure 13.**

*(a) Commercial flexible hybrid electronic product that cannot be manufactured using screen printing (courtesies of Molex), (b) typical industrial grade screen-printing machine currently used for flexible circuit board manufacturing, (c) conventional screen stencil currently used for electronic board manufacturing, (d) typical screen printing application that uses tremendous amount of expensive functional inks, (e) industrial grade high-throughput digital inkjet printer vs. research grade in sectors like the graphic and consumer packaging industries (courtesy of Fujifilm), and (f) industrial grade fully automated pick-and-place robot for the assembly of electronic components of the circuit board (courtesies of C2MI and Varitron).*

### **Figure 14.**

*Digital inkjet printing process mapping and optimization. (a) Research grade Ceradrop digital inkjet printing system at ÉTS; (b) precise control of a wide range of critical jetting parameters; (c) examples of inkjet-printed features using Ag ink on Kapton® for different printing lattices (drop placement configurations), drop interpenetration, and substrate temperatures; (d) example of one-layer and two-layer process mappings looking at the Ag features' thickness and uniformity for different substrate temperatures and drop interpenetrations in the hexagonal shifted lattice configuration; (e) typical high-resolution laser-scanning microscope image of the features obtained using a hexagonal shifted lattice with 50% interpenetration at 25°C substrate temperature; (f) example of a typical multivariate design-of-experiment analysis for process optimization (adapted from [94]).*

a highly complex process optimization. **Figure 14** exemplifies a concrete process optimization done in ÉTS laboratory for only one silver ink formulation.

The massive push for intelligent cyber-physical systems associated with the Industry 4.0 and the IoT revolutions aims at taking better-informed decisions in real time, based on more complete and readily acquired sets of data. For the very reason, conformable printed sensors are deployed to collect data from places that are critical and difficult to access for energy, biomedical, transportations, manufacturing, smart building, or wearable electronics applications where better and cheaper flexible hybrid electronics circuits used as ubiquitous sensing elements would play a comprehensive role in ways that rigid devices cannot [95].

### **4. Conclusion**

In this chapter, a general vision on energy sources and how an emerging field of printed electronics could consolidate green energy and environment is presented. An electronic circuit is found in a surprising number of devices that we use in our

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

daily life. Manufacturing digitally printed electronic circuits is a sustainable method that dramatically reduces high energy consumption and toxic etching chemical usage relative to traditional electronic manufacturing. Advanced printed electronics is truly a transdisciplinary research and production landscape that benefit greatly from strongly intertwined interrelationships between multiple diverse complementary fields, including material formulation engineering, printable electronic devices architecturing, computational robotics and process automation, and AI and process optimization. It is important to adopt an agile mindset for a complete ecosystem to conduct transformative R&D for disruptive and advanced printed electronics manufacturing solutions.

## **Acknowledgements**

This study was supported in part by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under the 2214-A program.

## **Conflict of interest**

There is no conflict of interest.

## **Author details**

Bilge Nazli Altay1,2,3\*, Martin Bolduc1,4 and Sylvain G. Cloutier<sup>1</sup>

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, École de Technologie SupÉrieure, Montréal, QC, Canada

2 Institute of Science and Technology, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

3 Department of Chemical and Paper Engineering, Western Michigan University, MI, USA

4 Varitron, Saint-Hubert, QC, Canada

\*Address all correspondence to: bilgenazli.altay@wmich.edu

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

a highly complex process optimization. **Figure 14** exemplifies a concrete process

*Digital inkjet printing process mapping and optimization. (a) Research grade Ceradrop digital inkjet printing system at ÉTS; (b) precise control of a wide range of critical jetting parameters; (c) examples of inkjet-printed features using Ag ink on Kapton® for different printing lattices (drop placement configurations), drop interpenetration, and substrate temperatures; (d) example of one-layer and two-layer process mappings looking at the Ag features' thickness and uniformity for different substrate temperatures and drop interpenetrations in the hexagonal shifted lattice configuration; (e) typical high-resolution laser-scanning microscope image of the features obtained using a hexagonal shifted lattice with 50% interpenetration at 25°C substrate temperature; (f) example of a typical multivariate design-of-experiment analysis for process*

*(a) Commercial flexible hybrid electronic product that cannot be manufactured using screen printing (courtesies of Molex), (b) typical industrial grade screen-printing machine currently used for flexible circuit board manufacturing, (c) conventional screen stencil currently used for electronic board manufacturing, (d) typical screen printing application that uses tremendous amount of expensive functional inks, (e) industrial grade high-throughput digital inkjet printer vs. research grade in sectors like the graphic and consumer packaging industries (courtesy of Fujifilm), and (f) industrial grade fully automated pick-and-place robot for*

*the assembly of electronic components of the circuit board (courtesies of C2MI and Varitron).*

The massive push for intelligent cyber-physical systems associated with the Industry 4.0 and the IoT revolutions aims at taking better-informed decisions in real time, based on more complete and readily acquired sets of data. For the very reason, conformable printed sensors are deployed to collect data from places that

manufacturing, smart building, or wearable electronics applications where better and cheaper flexible hybrid electronics circuits used as ubiquitous sensing elements

In this chapter, a general vision on energy sources and how an emerging field of printed electronics could consolidate green energy and environment is presented. An electronic circuit is found in a surprising number of devices that we use in our

optimization done in ÉTS laboratory for only one silver ink formulation.

are critical and difficult to access for energy, biomedical, transportations,

would play a comprehensive role in ways that rigid devices cannot [95].

**4. Conclusion**

**12**

**Figure 14.**

**Figure 13.**

*Green Energy and Environment*

*optimization (adapted from [94]).*

## **References**

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[5] Lee SM, Trimi S. Innovation for creating smart future. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge. 2018;**3**:1-8

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Cloutier S. Inkjet-printing of methylammonium lead trihalide perovskite as active layers for

2018;**3**(32):1837-1842

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[33] Deore B, Paquet C, Kell AJ, Lacelle T, Liu X, Mozenson O, et al. Formulation of screen-printable Cu molecular ink for conductive/flexible/ solderable Cu traces. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 2019;**11**:

[34] Huang X, Leng T, Zhang X, Chen JC, Chang KH, Geim AK, et al. Binder-free highly conductive graphene laminate for low cost printed radio frequency applications. Applied Physics

Letter. 2015;**106**:203105

Formulating Pantone colors by unused base inks, formulation software and a spectrophotometer. Color Research & Applications. 2019;**44**:910-916

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[15] Perelaer J, Smith PJ, Mager D, Soltman D, Volkman SK, Subramanian V, et al. Printed electronics: The challenges involved in printing devices, interconnects, and contacts based on inorganic materials. Journal of Materials Chemistry. 2010;**20**:8446-8453

[16] Altay BN. Development and characterization of nano nickel-based conductive inks for flexographic printing of electronics and new interpretations of surface energies of solids [PhD dissertation]. Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University; 2018

[17] Willmann J, Stocker D, Dörsam E. Characteristics and evaluation criteria of substrate-based manufacturing. Is rollto-roll the best solution for printed electronics? Organic Electronics. 2014; **15**(7):1631-1640

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

[18] Sagu JS, York N, Southee D, Wijayantha KGU. Printed electrodes for flexible, light-weight solid-state supercapacitors—A feasibility study. Circuit World. 2015;**41**(2):80-86

**References**

*Green Energy and Environment*

15729-15735

[1] Lewis NS, Nocera DG. Powering the planet: Chemical challenges in solar energy utilization. PNAS. 2006;**103**(43): [11] Ito S, Murakami TN, Comte P, Liska P, Grätzel C, Nazeeruddin MK, et al. Fabrication of thin film dye sensitized solar cells with solar to electric power conversion efficiency over 10%. Thin Solid Films. 2008;

[12] Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Solar radiation basics. Available from: https://www.energy.

radiation-basics [Accessed: 30 October

[14] Young WS, Abdullahi AA. Green electronics. Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology. Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering. 2001:3645-3649. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-803581-

[15] Perelaer J, Smith PJ, Mager D,

[16] Altay BN. Development and characterization of nano nickel-based conductive inks for flexographic printing of electronics and new interpretations of surface energies of solids [PhD dissertation]. Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University; 2018

[17] Willmann J, Stocker D, Dörsam E. Characteristics and evaluation criteria of substrate-based manufacturing. Is rollto-roll the best solution for printed electronics? Organic Electronics. 2014;

**15**(7):1631-1640

Subramanian V, et al. Printed electronics: The challenges involved in printing devices, interconnects, and contacts based on inorganic materials. Journal of Materials Chemistry. 2010;**20**:8446-8453

Soltman D, Volkman SK,

gov/eere/solar/articles/solar-

[13] GreenSpec. Solar hot water collector. Available from: http://www. greenspec.co.uk/building-design/solarcollectors/ [Accessed: 22 January 2020]

**516**(14):4613-4619

2019]

8.02029-4

[2] Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Available from: https://www.epa.gov/ ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-ga ses [Accessed: 30 October 2019]

[3] NASA Global Climate Change. Vital Signs of the Planet. Solutions. Mitigation and Adaptation: Responding to Climate Change. https://climate.nasa.gov/ solutions/adaptation-mitigation/ [Accessed: 30 October 2019]

[4] World Energy Council. World Energy Resources Report; 2016

[5] Lee SM, Trimi S. Innovation for creating smart future. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge. 2018;**3**:1-8

[6] BP. Statistical Review of World

[7] Viswanathan B. Energy Sources: Fundamentals of Chemical Conversion Processes and Applications. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier B. V.; 2017. DOI:

10.1016/C2011-0-05048-2

[8] Tritt TM, Böttner H, Chen L. Thermoelectrics: Direct solar thermal energy conversion. MRS Bulletin. 2008;

[9] File:EM spectrum.svg. Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 2015, November 22. Available from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ index.php?title=File:EM\_spectrum. svg&oldid=179921766 [Accessed: 30

[10] Fricker HA. Lecture 7: Propagation, Dispersion and Scattering. Available from: https://topex.ucsd.edu/rs/Lec07. pdf [Accessed: 22 January 2020]

Energy; 2019

**33**(4):366-368

October 2019]

**14**

[19] Fang Z, Zhu H, Preston C, Han X, Li Y, Lee S, et al. Highly transparent and writable wood all-cellulose hybrid nanostructured paper. Journal of Materials Chemistry C. 2013;**1**:6191- 6197

[20] Traille A, Kim S, Coustou A, Aubert H, Tentzeris MM. A conformal/ rollable monolithic miniaturized ultraportable ground penetrating radar using additive and inkjet printing. In: IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest. 2014. p. 6848398

[21] Chung O. Bendable, rollable, profitable. Taiwan Review. 2006;**56**(7): 12-17

[22] Salleo A, Wong W. Flexible Electronics: Materials and Applications. Boston, MA, USA: Springer; 2009

[23] Kipphan H. Handbook of Print Media Technologies and Production Methods. Berlin, Germany: Springer; 2001

[24] Khan S, Lorenzelli L, Dahiya RS. Technologies for printing sensors and electronics over large flexible substrates: A review. IEEE Sensors Journal. 2015; **15**(6):3164-3185

[25] Gamota DR, Brazis P, Kalyanasundaram K, Zhang J, editors. Printed Organic and Molecular Electronics. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2004

[26] Trudeau C, Bolduc M, Beaupré P, Topart P, Alain C, Cloutier S. Inkjetprinted flexible active multilayered structures. MRS Advances. 2017;**2**(18): 1015-1020

[27] Trudeau C, Bolduc M, Beaupré P, Benavides-Guerrero J, Tremblay B,

Cloutier S. Inkjet-printing of methylammonium lead trihalide perovskite as active layers for optoelectronic devices. MRS Advances. 2018;**3**(32):1837-1842

[28] Sekitani T, Nakajima H, Maeda H, Fukushima T, Aida T, Hata K, et al. Stretchable active-matrix organic lightemitting diode display using printable elastic conductors. Nature Materials. 2009;**8**(6):494-499

[29] Briseno AL, Mannsfeld SCB, Ling MM, Liu S, Tseng RJ, Reese C, et al. Patterning organic single-crystal transistor arrays. Nature. 2006; **444**(7121):913-917

[30] Krebs FC. Polymer solar cell modules prepared using roll-to-roll methods: Knife-over-edge coating, slotdie coating and screen printing. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 2009; **93**(4):465-475

[31] Comiskey B, Albert JD, Yoshizawa H, Jacobson J. An electrophoretic ink for all-printed reflective electronic displays. Nature. 1998;**394**(6690):253-255

[32] Altay BN, Husovska V, Pekarovicova A, Fleming PD. Formulating Pantone colors by unused base inks, formulation software and a spectrophotometer. Color Research & Applications. 2019;**44**:910-916

[33] Deore B, Paquet C, Kell AJ, Lacelle T, Liu X, Mozenson O, et al. Formulation of screen-printable Cu molecular ink for conductive/flexible/ solderable Cu traces. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 2019;**11**: 38880-38894

[34] Huang X, Leng T, Zhang X, Chen JC, Chang KH, Geim AK, et al. Binder-free highly conductive graphene laminate for low cost printed radio frequency applications. Applied Physics Letter. 2015;**106**:203105

[35] 3D Printing Progress. Clariant acquires Nano-Silver Ink technology from Bayer. Available from: https:// www.3dprintingprogress.com/articles/ 5345/clariant-acquires-nano-silver-inktechnology-from-bayer [Accessed: 22 January 2020]

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[37] Available from: https://www.pintere st.ca/pin/87538786476697485/ [Accessed: 22 January 2020]

[38] Nth-Light. Printed LED light. Available from: https://e02fee51-b7de-42ea-b9b6-9315d13dec82.filesusr.com/ ugd/99ec50\_f4ead3ceea9e42bc88a 07308fddbb960.pdf [Accessed: 22 January 2020]

[39] Kordás K, Mustonen T, Tóth G, Jantunen H, Lajunen M, Soldano C, et al. Inkjet printing of electrically conductive patterns of carbon nanotubes. Small. 2006;**2**(8–9):1021-1025

[40] Park M, Im J, Shin M, Min Y, Park J, Cho H, et al. Highly stretchable electric circuits from a composite material of silver nanoparticles and elastomeric fibres. Nature Nanotechnology. 2012; **7**(12):803-809

[41] Kattumenu R, Rebros M, Joyce M, Fleming PD, Neelgund G. Effect of substrate properties on conductive traces printed with silver-based flexographic ink. NPPRJ. 2009;**24**: 101-106

[42] Lim S, Fleming PD, Joyce M. A study of the jetting evolution of nano copper ink and nano silver ink with inkjet. Journal of Imaging Science and Technology. 2013;**57**(2):1-8

[43] Lim S, Joyce M, Fleming PD, Aijazi AT, Atashbar M. Inkjet printing and sintering of nano copper ink. Journal of Imaging Science and Technology. 2013;**57**(5):1-7

conductive structures by molten leadfree solder. Materials. 2017;**10**(1):1-18

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

Electronics Conference, BEC. 2014.

Fleming PD. Zinc oxide based inks for semi conductive applications. Advances in Printing and Media Technology. 2015;

[60] Everaerts K, Zeng L, Hennek JW, Camacho DI, Jariwala D, Bedzyk MJ, et al. Printed indium gallium zinc oxide

[61] Antoniadis H, Jiang F, Shan W, Liu Y. All screen printed mass produced silicon ink selective emitter solar cells. In: IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. 2010. pp. 1193-1196

[62] Ridley BA, Nivi B, Jacobson JM. All-

[63] Sun Y, Kim HS, Menard E, Kim S, Adesida I, Rogers JA. Printed arrays of

[64] Trudeau C, Bolduc M, Beaupré P, Ka I, Asuo IM, Cloutier SG. Inkjetprinting of methylammonium lead trihalide perovskite-based flexible optoelectronic devices. In: 2018 International Flexible Electronics Technology Conference. 2018. pp. 1-6

inorganic field effect transistor fabricated by printing. Science. 1999;

aligned GaAs wires for flexible transistors, diodes, and circuits on plastic substrates. Small. 2006;**2**(11):

[65] Haeberle T, Loghin F,

Zschieschang U, Klauk H, Lugli P. Carbon nanotube thin-film transistors featuring transfer-printed metal electrodes and a thin, self-grown aluminum oxide gate dielectric. In: IEEE-NANO 2015—15th International Conference on Nanotechnology. 2015.

**286**(5440):746-749

1330-1334

pp. 160-163

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transistors. Self-assembled nanodielectric effects on lowtemperature combustion growth and carrier mobility. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2013;**5**(22):11884-11893

pp. 145-148

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration*

**42**:195-204

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Technology. Vol. 39. Darmstadt, Germany: International Association of Research Organizations for the Information, Media and Graphic Arts

[53] Jeong SY, Kim SH, Han JT, Jeong HJ, Jeong SY, Lee G. Highly concentrated and conductive reduced graphene oxide nanosheets by monovalent cation-π interaction: Toward printed electronics. Advanced Functional Materials. 2012;

Industries; 2012

**22**(15):3307-3314

[54] Hrehorova E, Rebros M, Pekarovicova A, Fleming PD, Bliznyuk VN. Characterization of conductive polymer inks based on PEDOT:PSS. TAGA Journal. 2008;**4**:219

[55] Ha YS, Park HG, Seo DS. Conductive polyaniline for potential application in anisotropic conductive films. Journal of Electronic Materials.

[56] Mäkelä T, Jussila S, Vilkman M, Kosonen H, Korhonen R. Roll-to roll method for producing polyaniline patterns on paper. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Science and Technology of Synthetic Metals. 2003.

[57] Xu Z, Ma Y. Development of ironbased superconducting thin films and coated conductors. Xiyou Jinshu/ Chinese Journal of Rare Metals. 2017;

[58] Artamonovs O, Balodis G, Blums J. Electrical properties of the conductive pigments for flexible antennas. In: Proceedings of the Biennial Baltic

2015;**44**(4):1200-1205

pp. 41-42

**41**(5):553-570

**17**

[44] Määttänen A, Ihalainen P, Pulkkinen P, Wang S, Tenhu H, Peltonen J. Inkjet-printed gold electrodes on paper: Characterization and functionalization. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2012;**4**(2): 955-964

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[46] Altay BN. Smart ink for flexo: Rossini scholarship winner examines printed electronics. Flexo. 2016;**41**(6): 70-75

[47] Altay BN. Smart ink for flexo Rossini scholarship winner examines printed electronics. Flexo. 2016;**41**(5): 26-32

[48] Altay BN, Jourdan J, Turkani VS, Dietsch H, Maddipatla D, Pekarovivoca A, et al. Impact of substrate and process on the electrical performance of screen-printed nickel electrodes: Fundamental mechanism of ink film roughness. ACS Applied Energy & Materials. 2018;**2018**(1):7164-7173

[49] Park S, Kim H. Flash light sintering of nickel nanoparticles for printed electronics. Journal of Thin Solid Films. 2014;**550**:575-581

[50] Alsaid DA, Rebrosova E, Joyce M, Rebros M, Atashbar M, Bazuin B. Gravure printing of ITO transparent electrodes for applications in flexible electronics. IEEE/OSA Journal of Display Technology. 2012;**8**(7):391-396

[51] Wang C, Tsai H, Hwang W. Direct printing of 1-D and 2-D electronically

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

conductive structures by molten leadfree solder. Materials. 2017;**10**(1):1-18

[35] 3D Printing Progress. Clariant acquires Nano-Silver Ink technology from Bayer. Available from: https:// www.3dprintingprogress.com/articles/ 5345/clariant-acquires-nano-silver-inktechnology-from-bayer [Accessed: 22

*Green Energy and Environment*

and sintering of nano copper ink. Journal of Imaging Science and Technology. 2013;**57**(5):1-7

[44] Määttänen A, Ihalainen P, Pulkkinen P, Wang S, Tenhu H, Peltonen J. Inkjet-printed gold electrodes on paper: Characterization and functionalization. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2012;**4**(2):

[45] Husovska V, Pekarovic J,

[46] Altay BN. Smart ink for flexo: Rossini scholarship winner examines printed electronics. Flexo. 2016;**41**(6):

[47] Altay BN. Smart ink for flexo Rossini scholarship winner examines printed electronics. Flexo. 2016;**41**(5):

[48] Altay BN, Jourdan J, Turkani VS,

[49] Park S, Kim H. Flash light sintering of nickel nanoparticles for printed electronics. Journal of Thin Solid Films.

[50] Alsaid DA, Rebrosova E, Joyce M, Rebros M, Atashbar M, Bazuin B. Gravure printing of ITO transparent electrodes for applications in flexible electronics. IEEE/OSA Journal of Display Technology. 2012;**8**(7):391-396

[51] Wang C, Tsai H, Hwang W. Direct printing of 1-D and 2-D electronically

Dietsch H, Maddipatla D, Pekarovivoca A, et al. Impact of substrate and process on the electrical performance of screen-printed nickel electrodes: Fundamental mechanism of ink film roughness. ACS Applied Energy & Materials. 2018;**2018**(1):7164-7173

2014;**550**:575-581

Pekarovicova A, Fleming PD. Capacitors out of recycled printed electronics paper substrates. Proceedings of the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts, TAGA.

955-964

2016:202-211

70-75

26-32

[36] iDi Pac Ltd. The latest smart

ts [Accessed: 22 January 2020]

st.ca/pin/87538786476697485/ [Accessed: 22 January 2020]

[38] Nth-Light. Printed LED light. Available from: https://e02fee51-b7de-42ea-b9b6-9315d13dec82.filesusr.com/ ugd/99ec50\_f4ead3ceea9e42bc88a 07308fddbb960.pdf [Accessed: 22

[39] Kordás K, Mustonen T, Tóth G, Jantunen H, Lajunen M, Soldano C, et al. Inkjet printing of electrically conductive patterns of carbon nanotubes. Small.

[40] Park M, Im J, Shin M, Min Y, Park J, Cho H, et al. Highly stretchable electric circuits from a composite material of silver nanoparticles and elastomeric fibres. Nature Nanotechnology. 2012;

[41] Kattumenu R, Rebros M, Joyce M, Fleming PD, Neelgund G. Effect of substrate properties on conductive traces printed with silver-based flexographic ink. NPPRJ. 2009;**24**:

[42] Lim S, Fleming PD, Joyce M. A study of the jetting evolution of nano copper ink and nano silver ink with inkjet. Journal of Imaging Science and

Technology. 2013;**57**(2):1-8

[43] Lim S, Joyce M, Fleming PD, Aijazi AT, Atashbar M. Inkjet printing

packaging technologies – some thoughts by Khoshal Mann. Available from: h ttps://www.idipac.com/the-latest-sma rt-packaging-technologies-some-though

[37] Available from: https://www.pintere

January 2020]

January 2020]

**7**(12):803-809

101-106

**16**

2006;**2**(8–9):1021-1025

[52] Husovska V, Pekarovicova A, Fleming PD, Knox M, Fukushima H, Roberts K. Graphene inks for printed electronics. In: Edlund N, Lovrecek M, editors. Advances in Printing and Media Technology. Vol. 39. Darmstadt, Germany: International Association of Research Organizations for the Information, Media and Graphic Arts Industries; 2012

[53] Jeong SY, Kim SH, Han JT, Jeong HJ, Jeong SY, Lee G. Highly concentrated and conductive reduced graphene oxide nanosheets by monovalent cation-π interaction: Toward printed electronics. Advanced Functional Materials. 2012; **22**(15):3307-3314

[54] Hrehorova E, Rebros M, Pekarovicova A, Fleming PD, Bliznyuk VN. Characterization of conductive polymer inks based on PEDOT:PSS. TAGA Journal. 2008;**4**:219

[55] Ha YS, Park HG, Seo DS. Conductive polyaniline for potential application in anisotropic conductive films. Journal of Electronic Materials. 2015;**44**(4):1200-1205

[56] Mäkelä T, Jussila S, Vilkman M, Kosonen H, Korhonen R. Roll-to roll method for producing polyaniline patterns on paper. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Science and Technology of Synthetic Metals. 2003. pp. 41-42

[57] Xu Z, Ma Y. Development of ironbased superconducting thin films and coated conductors. Xiyou Jinshu/ Chinese Journal of Rare Metals. 2017; **41**(5):553-570

[58] Artamonovs O, Balodis G, Blums J. Electrical properties of the conductive pigments for flexible antennas. In: Proceedings of the Biennial Baltic

Electronics Conference, BEC. 2014. pp. 145-148

[59] Pathak S, Pekarovicova A, Fleming PD. Zinc oxide based inks for semi conductive applications. Advances in Printing and Media Technology. 2015; **42**:195-204

[60] Everaerts K, Zeng L, Hennek JW, Camacho DI, Jariwala D, Bedzyk MJ, et al. Printed indium gallium zinc oxide transistors. Self-assembled nanodielectric effects on lowtemperature combustion growth and carrier mobility. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 2013;**5**(22):11884-11893

[61] Antoniadis H, Jiang F, Shan W, Liu Y. All screen printed mass produced silicon ink selective emitter solar cells. In: IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. 2010. pp. 1193-1196

[62] Ridley BA, Nivi B, Jacobson JM. Allinorganic field effect transistor fabricated by printing. Science. 1999; **286**(5440):746-749

[63] Sun Y, Kim HS, Menard E, Kim S, Adesida I, Rogers JA. Printed arrays of aligned GaAs wires for flexible transistors, diodes, and circuits on plastic substrates. Small. 2006;**2**(11): 1330-1334

[64] Trudeau C, Bolduc M, Beaupré P, Ka I, Asuo IM, Cloutier SG. Inkjetprinting of methylammonium lead trihalide perovskite-based flexible optoelectronic devices. In: 2018 International Flexible Electronics Technology Conference. 2018. pp. 1-6

[65] Haeberle T, Loghin F, Zschieschang U, Klauk H, Lugli P. Carbon nanotube thin-film transistors featuring transfer-printed metal electrodes and a thin, self-grown aluminum oxide gate dielectric. In: IEEE-NANO 2015—15th International Conference on Nanotechnology. 2015. pp. 160-163

[66] Wilhelm EJ, Jacobson JM. Direct printing of nanoparticles and spin-onglasses by offset liquid embossing. Applied Physics Letters. 2004;**84**(18): 3507-3509

[67] Shin EY, Choi EY, Noh YY. Parylene based bilayer flexible gate dielectric layer for top-gated organic field-effect transistors. Organic Electronics: Physics, Materials, Applications. 2017;**46**:14-21

[68] Constantinescu C, Rapp L, Rotaru P, Delaporte P, Alloncle AP. Polyvinylphenol (PVP) microcapacitors printed by laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT): Multilayered pixel design and thermal analysis investigations. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. 2016;**49**(15):1-9

[69] Fan Y, Liu Y, Li H, Foulds IG. Printed wax masks for 254 nm deep-UV pattering of PMMA-based microfluidics. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. 2012;**22**(2)

[70] Moon HC, Lodge TP, Frisbie CD. Solution-processable electrochemiluminescent ion gels for flexible, low-voltage, emissive displays on plastic. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2014;**136**(9): 3705-3712

[71] Hwang HJ, Hsu SW, Wang CS. Low dielectric thermoset from redistributed poly(phenylene oxide). Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part A: Pure and Applied Chemistry. 2008;**45**(12): 1049-1056

[72] Allen M, Lee C, Ahn B, Kololuoma T, Shin K, Ko S. R2R gravure and inkjet printer RF resonant tag. Microelectronic Engineering Journal. 2011;**88**:3293-3299

[73] Kojima A, Teshima K, Shirai Y, Miyasaka T. Organometal halide perovskites as visible-light sensitizers for photovoltaic cells. Journal of American Chemical Society. 2009; **131**(17):6050-6051

[74] Saliba M, Matsui T, Seo J, Domanski K, Correa-Baena J, Nazeeruddin M, et al. Cesiumcontaining triple cation perovskite solar cells: Improved stability, reproducibility and high efficiency. Energy & Environmental Science. 2016;**9**(6): 1989-1997

substrate using laser processing. Materials. 2018;**11**(2):1-9

Farnsworth S. Photonic curing of inkjet

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

and Expo. NSTI-Nanotech; 2011.

Mohammadi M, Aledhari M, Ayyash M. Internet of Things: A survey on enabling technologies, protocols and applications. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials. 2015;**17**(4):2347-2376, Fourth

[91] Al-Fuqaha A, Guizani M,

[92] Sowade E, Polomoshnov M, Baumann RR. The design challenge in printing devices and circuits: Influence of the orientation of print patterns in inkjet-printed electronics. Organic Electronics. 2016;**37**:428-438

[93] Marques GC, von Seggern F, Dehm S, Breitung B, Hahn H,

transistors and circuits. IEEE

TED.2019.2903456

**66**(5):2202-2207. DOI: 10.1109/

[94] Trudeau C. Printed electronics prototyping of flexible optoelectronic methylammonium trihalide perovskitebased devices [PhD dissertation]. Montreal: École de technologie supérieure; submitted 2020

[95] Brewer D. AI needs printed

[Accessed: 22 January 2020]

electronics for sensor arrays. Internet of Things Designline. EE Times. Available from: https://www.eetimes.com/ai-need s-printed-electronics-for-sensor-arrays/

Dasgupta D, et al. Influence of humidity on the performance of composite polymer electrolyte-gated field-effect

Transactions on Electron Devices. 2019;

pp. 220-223

*Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration*

quarter

Industrial Inkjet Printing: A Full System Approach. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA; 2018

[84] Zhang LC, Sun X, Hu Z, Yuan CC, Chen CH. Rice paper as a separator membrane in lithium-ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources. 2012;**204**:

[85] Li Y, Chen Q, Li L, Wang S,

[86] Suganuma K. Introduction to Printed Electronics. New York, USA: Springer Science+Business Media; 2014

[87] Cronin HM, Stoeva Z, Brown M, Shkunov M, Silva SRP. Photonic curing of low-cost aqueous silver flake inks for printed conductors with increased yield. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

[88] Zhang Y, Zhang J. Sintering

[89] Niittynena J, Abbelb R,

**556**:452-459

**19**

phenomena and mechanical strength of nickel based materials in direct metal laser sintering process—A molecular dynamics study. Journal of Materials Research. 2016;**31**(15):2233-2243

Mäntysalo M, Perelaer J, Schubert U, Lupo D. Alternative sintering methods compared to conventional thermal sintering for inkjet printed silver

nanoparticle ink. Thin Solid Films. 2014;

[90] Schroder K. Mechanisms of photonic Curing™: Processing high temperature films on low temperature substrates. In: Technical Proceedings of the NSTI Nanotechnology Conference

2018;**10**:21398-21410

Wang Z. Review of damage problems of the soft substrate interlayer film. Vibroengineering Procedia. 2015;**5**:

[83] Akhavan V, Schroder K,

printed films. In: Handbook of

149-154

297-302

[75] Lee Y, Kwon J, Hwang E, Ra CH, Yoo WJ, Ahn JH, et al. High performance perovskite-graphene hybrid photodetector. Advanced Materials. 2015;**27**(1):41-46

[76] Brenner TM, Egger DA, Rappe AM, Kronik L, Hodes G, Cahen D. Are mobilities in hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskites actually "high"? Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 2015;**6**(23):4754-4757

[77] MacDonald W. Engineered films for display technologies. Journal of Materials Chemistry. 2014;**14**:4-10

[78] Siegel AC, Phillips ST, Dickey MD, Lu N, Suo Z, Whitesides GM. Foldable printed circuit boards on paper substrates. Advanced Functional Materials. 2010;**20**:28-35

[79] Garner S, Glaesemann S, Li X. Ultraslim flexible glass for roll-to-roll electronic device fabrication. Applied Physics A. 2014;**116**:403-407

[80] Stoppa M, Chiolerio A. Wearable electronics and smart textiles: A critical review. Sensors (Switzerland). 2014; **14**(7):11957-11992

[81] Hong Y, Chung S, Kattamis A, Cheng I, Wagner S. Technical issues of stainless steel foil substrates for OLED display applications. Proceedings of SPIE. 2007;**6655**:66550N-665501N

[82] Ji SY, Chang WS, Choi WH, Kim HW, Cho S, Jeon J. Fully solution processable fabrication of multi-layered circuits on a flexible *Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing of Printed Electronics: An Environmental Consideration DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91979*

substrate using laser processing. Materials. 2018;**11**(2):1-9

[66] Wilhelm EJ, Jacobson JM. Direct printing of nanoparticles and spin-onglasses by offset liquid embossing. Applied Physics Letters. 2004;**84**(18):

*Green Energy and Environment*

[74] Saliba M, Matsui T, Seo J, Domanski K, Correa-Baena J, Nazeeruddin M, et al. Cesium-

and high efficiency. Energy & Environmental Science. 2016;**9**(6):

Yoo WJ, Ahn JH, et al. High performance perovskite-graphene hybrid photodetector. Advanced Materials. 2015;**27**(1):41-46

2015;**6**(23):4754-4757

1989-1997

containing triple cation perovskite solar cells: Improved stability, reproducibility

[75] Lee Y, Kwon J, Hwang E, Ra CH,

[76] Brenner TM, Egger DA, Rappe AM, Kronik L, Hodes G, Cahen D. Are mobilities in hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskites actually "high"? Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

[77] MacDonald W. Engineered films for

[78] Siegel AC, Phillips ST, Dickey MD, Lu N, Suo Z, Whitesides GM. Foldable

[79] Garner S, Glaesemann S, Li X. Ultra-

[80] Stoppa M, Chiolerio A. Wearable electronics and smart textiles: A critical review. Sensors (Switzerland). 2014;

[81] Hong Y, Chung S, Kattamis A, Cheng I, Wagner S. Technical issues of stainless steel foil substrates for OLED display applications. Proceedings of SPIE. 2007;**6655**:66550N-665501N

[82] Ji SY, Chang WS, Choi WH, Kim HW, Cho S, Jeon J. Fully solution processable fabrication of multi-layered circuits on a flexible

display technologies. Journal of Materials Chemistry. 2014;**14**:4-10

printed circuit boards on paper substrates. Advanced Functional

slim flexible glass for roll-to-roll electronic device fabrication. Applied

Physics A. 2014;**116**:403-407

**14**(7):11957-11992

Materials. 2010;**20**:28-35

[67] Shin EY, Choi EY, Noh YY. Parylene based bilayer flexible gate dielectric layer for top-gated organic field-effect transistors. Organic Electronics: Physics, Materials, Applications. 2017;**46**:14-21

[68] Constantinescu C, Rapp L, Rotaru P,

Polyvinylphenol (PVP) microcapacitors printed by laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT): Multilayered pixel design and thermal analysis

investigations. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. 2016;**49**(15):1-9

[69] Fan Y, Liu Y, Li H, Foulds IG. Printed wax masks for 254 nm deep-UV pattering of PMMA-based microfluidics.

Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. 2012;**22**(2)

Solution-processable

3705-3712

1049-1056

[72] Allen M, Lee C, Ahn B,

2011;**88**:3293-3299

**131**(17):6050-6051

**18**

[70] Moon HC, Lodge TP, Frisbie CD.

electrochemiluminescent ion gels for flexible, low-voltage, emissive displays on plastic. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2014;**136**(9):

[71] Hwang HJ, Hsu SW, Wang CS. Low dielectric thermoset from redistributed poly(phenylene oxide). Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part A: Pure and Applied Chemistry. 2008;**45**(12):

Kololuoma T, Shin K, Ko S. R2R gravure and inkjet printer RF resonant tag. Microelectronic Engineering Journal.

[73] Kojima A, Teshima K, Shirai Y, Miyasaka T. Organometal halide perovskites as visible-light sensitizers for photovoltaic cells. Journal of American Chemical Society. 2009;

Delaporte P, Alloncle AP.

3507-3509

[83] Akhavan V, Schroder K, Farnsworth S. Photonic curing of inkjet printed films. In: Handbook of Industrial Inkjet Printing: A Full System Approach. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA; 2018

[84] Zhang LC, Sun X, Hu Z, Yuan CC, Chen CH. Rice paper as a separator membrane in lithium-ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources. 2012;**204**: 149-154

[85] Li Y, Chen Q, Li L, Wang S, Wang Z. Review of damage problems of the soft substrate interlayer film. Vibroengineering Procedia. 2015;**5**: 297-302

[86] Suganuma K. Introduction to Printed Electronics. New York, USA: Springer Science+Business Media; 2014

[87] Cronin HM, Stoeva Z, Brown M, Shkunov M, Silva SRP. Photonic curing of low-cost aqueous silver flake inks for printed conductors with increased yield. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 2018;**10**:21398-21410

[88] Zhang Y, Zhang J. Sintering phenomena and mechanical strength of nickel based materials in direct metal laser sintering process—A molecular dynamics study. Journal of Materials Research. 2016;**31**(15):2233-2243

[89] Niittynena J, Abbelb R, Mäntysalo M, Perelaer J, Schubert U, Lupo D. Alternative sintering methods compared to conventional thermal sintering for inkjet printed silver nanoparticle ink. Thin Solid Films. 2014; **556**:452-459

[90] Schroder K. Mechanisms of photonic Curing™: Processing high temperature films on low temperature substrates. In: Technical Proceedings of the NSTI Nanotechnology Conference

and Expo. NSTI-Nanotech; 2011. pp. 220-223

[91] Al-Fuqaha A, Guizani M, Mohammadi M, Aledhari M, Ayyash M. Internet of Things: A survey on enabling technologies, protocols and applications. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials. 2015;**17**(4):2347-2376, Fourth quarter

[92] Sowade E, Polomoshnov M, Baumann RR. The design challenge in printing devices and circuits: Influence of the orientation of print patterns in inkjet-printed electronics. Organic Electronics. 2016;**37**:428-438

[93] Marques GC, von Seggern F, Dehm S, Breitung B, Hahn H, Dasgupta D, et al. Influence of humidity on the performance of composite polymer electrolyte-gated field-effect transistors and circuits. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices. 2019; **66**(5):2202-2207. DOI: 10.1109/ TED.2019.2903456

[94] Trudeau C. Printed electronics prototyping of flexible optoelectronic methylammonium trihalide perovskitebased devices [PhD dissertation]. Montreal: École de technologie supérieure; submitted 2020

[95] Brewer D. AI needs printed electronics for sensor arrays. Internet of Things Designline. EE Times. Available from: https://www.eetimes.com/ai-need s-printed-electronics-for-sensor-arrays/ [Accessed: 22 January 2020]

**Chapter 2**

the Gas Turbine

*and Flavien Berard*

**Abstract**

CC plant layout.

**1. Introduction**

**21**

receiver, open volumetric air receiver (OVAR)

Techno-Economic Optimization

Powered Combined Cycle with

*Jean-Florian Brau, Frédéric Siros, Jonathon McGuire*

and Benchmarking of a Solar-Only

High-Temperature TES Upstream

*Fritz Zaversky, Iñigo Les, Marcelino Sánchez, Benoît Valentin,*

This work presents a techno-economic parametric study of an innovative central receiver solar thermal power plant layout that applies the combined cycle (CC) as thermodynamic power cycle and a multi-tower solar field configuration together with open volumetric air receivers (OVARs). The topping gas turbine (GT) is powered by an air–air heat exchanger (two heat exchanger trains in the case of reheat). In order to provide dispatchability, a high-temperature thermocline TES system is placed upstream the gas turbine. The aim is threefold, (i) investigating whether the multi-tower concept has a techno-economic advantage with respect to conventional single-tower central receiver plants, (ii) indicating the technoeconomic optimum power plant configuration, and (iii) benchmarking the technoeconomic optimum of the CC plant against that of a conventional single-cycle Rankine steam plant with the same receiver and TES technology. It is concluded that the multi-tower configuration has a techno-economic advantage with respect to the conventional single-tower arrangement above a total nominal solar power level of about 150 MW. However, the benchmarking of the CC against a Rankine single-cycle power plant layout shows that the CC configuration has despite its higher solar-to-electric conversion efficiency a higher LCOE. The gain in electricity yield is not enough to outweigh the higher investment costs of the more complex

**Keywords:** concentrated solar power, solar combined cycle, multi-tower central

Solar thermal power, also known as concentrated solar power (CSP) or solar thermal electricity (STE), can be considered as a highly promising technology when

## **Chapter 2**
