3Plast makes an innovative splash
The EU has granted researchers over EUR 2 million to establish innovative solutions for safety and security systems, as well as easy-to-use human-machine interfaces without burning huge holes in European pockets. The 3PLAST ('Pyroelectrical and piezoelectrical printable large area sensor technology') project, supported under Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), is providing new sensor concepts produced through high-throughput processes for high-volume markets. Since 2008, researchers and industrialists have been working together in 3PLAST to mass produce pressure and temperature sensors that can be printed onto plastic film inexpensively and be affixed to an extensive range of everyday objects flexibly. 'The sensor consists of pyroelectrical and piezoelectrical polymers which can now be processed in high volumes by screen printing, for example,' explained Dr Gerhard Domann from the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC), the coordinating body of the 3PLAST project. 'The sensor is combined with an organic transistor, which strengthens the sensor signal. It's strongest where the finger is. The special thing about our sensor is that the transistor can also be printed.' The project partners highlighted some problems that could prove challenging in the production of polymer sensors. For instance, manufacture of printable transistors can happen only when the insulation materials are very thin. But the ISC researchers met the challenge head on by manufacturing an insulator with a thickness of just 100 nanometres. The first sensors, they said, have already been printed on film. The team is now developing optimised transistors that can amplify rapid changes in temperature and pressure. 'By providing everyday objects with information about their environment - for example whether a person is approaching - by means of pressure and temperature sensors, we can create and market new devices that can be controlled just by pointing a finger,' Dr Domann said. 'The project comes to an end in January 2011, but we think it will take a few more years before sensors can be printed on large surfaces,' he added. The 3PLAST partners believe further applications for the technology can emerge in the field of robotics, as well as in the automotive and construction industries. Collaborating in the 3PLAST project are the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (Germany), ASEM GmbH (Germany), Festo AG & Co. KG (Germany), Motorola (Germany), Joanneum Research NMP (Austria), Acreo AB (Sweden), IEE SA (Luxembourg), Johannes Kepler Universität Linz (Austria), Emfit Ltd (Finland).
Countries
Austria, Germany, Finland, Luxembourg