Xerox Makes an Inexpensive Silver Ink That Could Make Big Changes
Xerox has developed a new type of ink that, made from silver, could eventually help build more flexible electronics. The ink can be used to print circuits onto films, textiles and plastics. While printing these things onto more flexible objects isn’t entirely new Xerox’s method (dubbed “silver bullet”) is and the fact that this new method is cheaper and easier to use only adds to the potential for the innovation down the road.
This new ink is made from silver and is capable of conducting electricity while maintaining a melting point which is lower than that of plastic. This temperature difference is a very important change. Most metals melt at about 1000 degrees c while something like plastic melts at a much cooler 150 degrees c, making it very hard to transfer the metal ink to the plastic before that plastic melts. Xerox hopes this could lead to new innovations like printing out circuits as you would print a document and then folding that plastic for a flexible electronic device or in developing lighter weight and easier to carry e-book readers that can deal with more reckless handling than current models. Ideas like weaving circuits into clothing, lower cost RFID tags or more flexible road signs and solar panels could also make great new innovations that utilize this new ink.
Tags: curcuits, printer, silver bullet, silver ink, xeroxRelated posts
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Loading ...Posted by Printer Geek on November 4th, 2009
