InnovationLab Special Section in Advanced Materials Technologies

Abstract

Flexible and Printed Electronics (FPE) combine the cost-efficiency and high-throughput fabrication of printing technologies with functional materials whose mechanical, electrical or optoelectronic properties can be tailored by chemical approaches. Thus, it represents an ideal approach that will complement established silicon-based technologies to advance the manifold of envisioned applications for upcoming technologies in low-cost sensing, energy harvesting and storage, wearables and the Internet of Things. The research and commercial opportunities that FPE opens are currently motivating several research centers to establish dedicated programs and the consolidation of industrial and academic consortiums (e.g. Organic Electronics Association, NextFlex, etc.) while companies have started launching the first FPE technologies to the market. This continuous growth is being supported by all the different players in the field through a large effort in the research and development of functional materials, printing process technology and system integration. Still, challenges remain to be addressed in order to expand the areas of application that will benefit from the added value of FPE technologies. Solving them will require a multidisciplinary approach at the crossroads between chemistry, physics, material science and engineering. The development of new FPE technologies requires comprehensively addressing all aspects of the value chain, from the conception of the idea, the research and development, to the final transition to production. InnovationLab (iL) is an application-oriented platform located in Southwest Germany, designed to foster cross-disciplinary research and innovation at the interface of academia and industry for the commercialization of novel technologies. The main emphasis of iL is driving the developments in the field of Printed and Organic Electronics and related areas towards the production of real-world applications. iL operates with the support of its shareholders Heidelberg University, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, BASF SE, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG and SAP SE. Since its foundation in 2008, through the support of the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), iL has provided state-of-the-art infrastructure along with extensive expertise in materials, processes, and printing technologies to carry out public and private funded research and development projects. Today, iL has become a collaboration hub establishing a strong industrial and academic network at a national and international level and has already driven its first products to the market. Recently, iL has partnered with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, the world market leader in the manufacturing of printing presses, to enable the industrial scale fabrication of inexpensive printed and organic sensors in a second production site. From an academic perspective, the key mission of iL is to promote multidisciplinary research, training the next generation of scientists and advance the fundamental understanding of functional materials and processes that yield high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. This goal is pursued through the excellent research performed by its academic shareholders as well as its partners from institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, the Technical University of Darmstadt, and the Technical University of Braunschweig. In this Special Section of Advanced Material Technologies, we highlight the contribution of the academic partners to the Lab-to-Fab mission of iL. The included manuscripts present application-oriented research on different aspects relevant to organic light-emitting diodes, organic field-effect transistor, photovoltaics and printing technology. We present the simulation of charge transport in organic semiconductors, the synthesis of novel materials for organic electronic devices and the study of device relevant interfaces by spectroscopy and analytical tools. Furthermore, we show our research on the formulation of functional inks and the role of the printing and drying processes of organic thin-films. Lastly, we show our advances in fully-inkjet printed device architectures, the utilization of sustainable material in printed electronics and the hybrid integration of solution-processable devices. These research examples demonstrate how the fundamental understanding of functional materials, fabrication processes, and devices are enabling technological advances towards future low-cost printed electronic applications. Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa received his Ph.D. from the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria in 2009. Currently, he is a permanent researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His research group is based at InnovationLab in Heidelberg, Germany, where he focuses on the development of printed optoelectronic devices and the use of biofriendly and sustainable materials in electronics. Prior to his current post, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids of the University of California Santa Barbara, USA.