- The EU-funded MADRAS project has enabled a scalable manufacturing process of organic electronics with new green advanced materials.
- The project’s innovative technology, including nanocellulose-based substrates and conductive and semiconducting inks, applied on devices processed through in-mould electronics, has paved the way for the production of robust, flexible, and cost-effective integrated products.
- These innovations have been validated in three consumer electronics devices integrated into plastic parts: a geotracking flexible tag for the logistics sector, a biometric reader based on photosensors and photovoltaic modules to power energy-efficient electronics.
Barcelona, June 27th, 2023.- The MADRAS project has reached its end, advancing in the mass production of organic printed electronic devices, unlocking their full potential for the spread of applications in various industries such as automotive, consumer electronics or healthcare including smart packaging, biometric photosensors, or self-powered devices powered through flexible solar cells or radiofrequency energy harvesters.
The project, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union, has paved the way for products with new features, lighter, thinner and more flexible. These innovative devices, composed of advanced inks printed on flexible surfaces made of plastic or nanocellulose, have emerged as a viable alternative to traditional inorganic materials, such as copper and silicon.
In the words of Rosa Araujo, project manager at Eurecat and MADRAS coordinator, MADRAS “has successfully boosted a set of new sustainable materials with improved optical and electrical properties, as well as established a high-speed manufacturing methodology that ensures scalable and competitive process, promoting the widespread adoption of OLAE devices, resulting in cost reduction and diminishing environmental impact”.
In the MADRAS project “we have worked on developing conductive and semiconductive materials which allow for building fully-printed devices with outstanding performance and stability” points out Laura López, the project’s technical coordinator and researcher of the Functional Printing and Embedded Devices Unit at Eurecat. “the organic electronics devices developed have opened up new possibilities for innovation and commercialisation,” she adds.
Key to the project’s success has been the utilization of in-mould electronics, also known as plastronics, which enhances the device integration process. By combining functional printing of electronics with traditional plastic transformation processes such as thermoforming and injection moulding, the consortium has created plastic parts with electronic functions. This cutting-edge technology has not only increased resistance to humidity and wear and tear, but has also enabled the addition of custom-made connectors, further expanding the capabilities of organic electronics devices.
The advances achieved in the MADRAS project have been validated in the implementation of three printed electronics products integrated into plastic parts. One of them is a flexible battery-free geolocation tag for the packaging sector, offering enhanced tracking and monitoring capabilities. Another device is a biometric reader based on photosensors, to be employed for user identification in electric mobility services. The third product is a flexible photovoltaic module that takes advantage of sunlight to generate energy.
These demonstrators served as tangible demonstration of MADRAS materials’ properties and performance and exemplify the transformative potential of printed electronics in real-world applications.
The MADRAS project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme and coordinated by the Eurecat technology centre. It involves 11 other partners from Spain (Eticas Research and Consulting, TECNOPACKAGING, UNE and the Cooltra Group), France (Genesink, Fedrigoni and Paragon ID), Denmark (infinityPV), the Netherlands (TNO) and the Czech Republic (COC and University of Pardubice).
