Brewer Science, Inc., a pioneer in printed electronics and smart device technology, will be presenting Implementation of New Materials and Printed Electronics for Monitoring the Environment and exhibiting at booth G1 at ‘The Future of Electronics Reshaped,’ a TechBlick event, in Boston, Massachusetts, on 12-13 June 2024.
Cost-effective, reliable, and scalable environmental monitoring solutions require Additively Manufactured Electronics (AME)
Building and distributing cost-effective environmental sensors requires the electronics industry to accelerate the advancement of additively manufactured electronics (AME). One of the biggest challenges in implementing AME technologies is the development of printable functional inks, especially electrically non-conductive materials.
There have been decades of progress in conductive inks, driven by applications such as membrane switches, resistive heaters, RFID tags, photovoltaics, and RF antennas. The next wave of development will be in the creation of new printable materials such as low-loss dielectrics, porous membranes, ion-selective membranes, optical materials, and environmental protection layers (encapsulants). Brewer Science aims to be part of this future by leaning on its core strength as an innovative materials development and manufacturing company.
Additively Manufactured Electronics rely on printable functional inks
Brewer Science’s vision is to design, build, and deploy connected gas and water sensors that monitor environmental contaminants quantitatively on a large scale. For the last decade, Brewer Science has developed the materials and technology to print cost-effective sensors that can measure contaminants in water, such as heavy metals (lead, cadmium), copper, calcium, magnesium, nitrate, pH, and oxygen-reduction potential (ORP), as well as sensors that assess air quality by measuring gases like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and oxygen.
Brewer Science fabricates a variety of printable sensor materials and deposits them onto a substrate utilising processes such as physical vapour deposition (PVD), sputtering, screen printing, stencil printing, ink-jet printing, spray coating, and high-speed jet dispensing. Producing low-cost sensors with low-power electronics and wireless communication will enable the deployment of sensors over vast areas for real-time monitoring of environmental conditions.
Adam Scotch, Ph.D, Director, R&D, Smart Devices at Brewer Science will present an overview of these developments at the 2024 ‘The Future of Electronics Reshaped’ Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. In his presentation, Dr. Scotch addresses the key challenges this technology addresses.
Key challenges
Cost-Effectiveness: Developing low-cost sensors that are affordable for widespread use.
Scalability: Ensuring that the sensors can be deployed over vast areas to provide comprehensive environmental monitoring.
Real-Time Monitoring: Providing technology for real-time data collection and analysis of environmental conditions.
Technological Advancements: Overcoming barriers in the development of printable functional inks and materials, especially electrically non-conductive materials, which are crucial for the advancement of additively manufactured electronics (AME).
Diverse Contaminant Detection: Offering sensors capable of detecting a wide range of contaminants and gases, ensuring comprehensive environmental assessment.
The presentation, New Materials and Printed Electronics for Monitoring the Environment, will take place in Ballroom C on 13 June at 11:50AM EST. Dr. Scotch will also be available to discuss this technology at booth G1 throughout the duration of the conference.
“Our system provides unparalleled accuracy and reliability, meeting the needs for stringent water quality standards and regulations. With our analyser, customers can monitor lead (Pb), pH, total dissolved solids (TDS) and temperature on demand and in real time, enabling proactive mitigation measures to protect public health and the environment,” says Dr. Scotch.