Research Triangle Park, NC – DuPont Microcircuit Materials (DuPont) is launching a suite of in-mold electronic inks designed to help streamline electronic devices by reducing the need for rigid circuit boards. By printing circuits directly onto plastic substrates, touch controls, such as electronic buttons, switches and slides, are readily integrated in applications such as home appliances and automobiles. The inks offer important design, manufacturing, weight and cost advantages and mark the further expansion of DuPont advanced materials enabling printed electronics.
“In-mold electronics can simplify structures significantly while opening the door for more creative design possibilities since designers are no longer restricted to the shapes and form factors of printed circuit boards,” said John Voultos, segment manager, DuPont Microcircuit Materials. “These new inks will enable more beautiful appliances and lighter vehicles.”
The new DuPont ME series in-mold electronic inks are designed to withstand demanding manufacturing processes such as thermoforming and injection molding. They also simplify the assembly process because there is only a single connection point and no wires behind the console. This can reduce the weight of a console by more than 70 percent. In addition to increased design freedom and lighter weight, the technology can reduce cost by up to 50 percent compared to currently available buttons and up to 20 percent versus other electronic touch switch systems.
To help simplify implementation of the technology, DuPont also is launching a compatibility database that contains in-use testing and reliability data of DuPont’s in-mold electronic inks when used with industry-leading films and graphic inks.
DuPont Microcircuit Materials (MCM) is a leading innovator and high-volume supplier of electronic inks and pastes that offers a broad range of printed electronic materials commercially available today. The growing portfolio of DuPont MCM electronic inks is used in many applications, including forming conductive traces, capacitor and resistor elements, and dielectric and encapsulating layers that are compatible with many substrate surfaces including polymer, glass and ceramic.
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