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D4.4 Protocol for the implementation of the industrialization of IME - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Protocol for the implementation of the industrialisation of in-mould electronics (IME) is an internal and confidential document dedicated to members of the MADRAS consortium.
The success of MADRAS project is very much linked to a transfer from R&D to an industrial setting with integration of MADRAS outcomes into commercial products.

This deliverable gives an overview of the stages reached for 3 demonstrators (Demo1-3) developed within the project and makes an assessment of the necessary steps needed for implementation/deployment of in-mould and thermoforming facilities at infinityPV.

Demo1, a flexible battery-free geolocation tag, was successfully produced. We have effectively established the feasibility of producing in-mould tags. Although additional research is needed to assess the compatibility of crucial components like quartz crystals with the injection moulding process, other critical aspects faced during experimentation were solved such as compatibility of nanocellulose substrate with TPU resin, substrate ripping with hybridized components and warping of the tag. Functional tags were obtained through protection of the control unit, therefore future investigations could be focused on the compatibilization of the control units via component redesign or normalization of control unit protective layers.

Demo2 was envisioned as plastic embedded fingerprint sensors integrated in a scooter. Albeit that all aspects of processing and integration have been demonstrated in a step-by-step approach, fully functional integrated in-mould fingerprint scanners could not be realized. Instead, a fingerprint sensor on glass and readout electronics (together mounted in an aluminium casing) was achieved that successfully served to validate the user authentication and heartbeat detection. The failure of the plastic processed demo was associated to the choice of thermoforming mould design. When a large wave shape was used, none of the cracks of wrinkles in the PC surface was observed. These learnings should be taken into account in future mould designs when thin film electronics on PI should be integrated.

Demo3, an injection moulded organic solar cell module, was introduced as a “demonstrator” very late in the project, although in reality the groundwork for its realisation has been introduced at a very early stage in the project, where small organic solar cells from infinityPV were chosen for the initial IM trials of the project. Technology transfer from MADRAS to infinityPV was achieved through an iteration approach of materials, processing conditions and in mould, finally leading to the preparation of several hundreds of small (120 x 75 mm2) roll-to-roll processed organic solar cells modules, and subsequent successful plastic integration in TPU by injection moulding. MADRAS materials for R2R processing in the form of screen printable AgNW inks (ink103 and ink117) and slot-die coatable PEDOT:PSS inks (PINK150 and PINK375) were used in with success in the final upscaling experiments.

Regarding the deployment at infinityPV, evaluation of the current state of the technology and the cost associated with acquiring injection moulding equipment, proved that a step wise approach is the best way to proceed. Starting with outsourcing of further R&D to fit infinityPV’s needs is deemed the best approach before investing in both new infrastructure and equipment.