Printed Electronics
A World First at Ryedale Group - The Printed Electronic Nose
In 2010/11 we successfully led a project team to produce demonstrators of sensors that were sensitive to volatile chemicals in a similar way to how your nose works. This was to be achieved by UV litho printing conductive ink in the form of a base electrode, and then depositing a conducting polymer on the top surface, and connecting it to a specialised electronic circuit.
The ink is transferred onto a metal plate, and then via a rubber blanket onto the plastic substrate. The sheets are then passed under UV lamps to cure the ink, as unlike conventional printing onto paper and board the ink cannot be absorbed into the substrate.
The conductive electrodes printed were converted to sensitive volatile organic compound sensors by deposition of conducting polymer layers that can measure volatile chemicals. In future, addition of sensitive layers can be envisioned to enable:
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The detection of diseases from breath samples e.g. cancers and diabetes;
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Quality control of industrial fluids e.g. paints and metalworking fluids;
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Quality control, authenticity and spoilage of food and drinks;
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Rapid detection of micro-organisms e.g. MRSA.
We are keen to develop a method of mass producing acceptable levels of repeatable quality in a cost effective manner – that is to say: A product we can market and sell.
Winner of
for Innovation
