IPISA is a very promising story that has been unfolded in the Center for Technology Research and Innovation, (CETRI), and involves a sensing scheme technology with a high societal impact. It is reflected on current needs for environmental monitoring where the knowledge of the exact environmental conditions is of paramount importance such as agriculture, livestock and pisciculture. Furthermore, in the future it could be expanded in different scenarios such as the world of the enhanced safety monitoring in populated areas, as convenient detection of explosives in airports and other public places.
IPISA has exploited an ultra-versatile sensing scheme based on the development of high performance, low-cost, printed sensor array technology. It is combining the existing know-how on advanced sensing materials and inkjet material deposition, guaranteeing high throughput fabrication methods and high sensitivity and selectivity. Advanced data processing techniques strengthen the sensing capabilities, allowing the quantitative and qualitative sensing of a wide range of gases. A prototype device has been built which will be further developed and up-scaled in the future, targeting to be introduced in the gas sensors market. This device has a competitive advantage over expensive, micro-fabricated products addressing similar markets due to low cost, high performance, great sensitivity and simplicity in terms of applicability. Thus, by combining expertise in diverge areas and by a well-defined innovation management plan, CETRI will be significantly boosted in the ever-increasing sensor market.
According to the market research report "Printed Sensors Market by Type, Printing Technology (Ink-Jet Printing, Screen Printing, Flexographic Printing), Application, and Geography - Global Trend and Forecast to 2022", the printed sensors market is expected to reach USD 10.46 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 7.0% between 2016 and 2022. IPISA’s technology is involving a printed array of sensing materials that are behaving as chemiresistors. Although such materials suffer from short lifetime and poor selectivity, they are low cost and they can be printed into devices, contributing to their widespread use. Although the technology of printed sensors is reported in the literature for over two decades, a holistic approach for bringing the technology towards the market is still missing to encompass the sensing materials, the fabrication process, the data acquisition electronics, the signals data processing, the device packaging and the device demonstration and evaluation. gases. The advantages of IPISA sensing platform are based on the combination of a) the selectivity of nanotechnology-enabled sensing materials, b) the use of inkjet printing that provides a convenient, low cost and high throughput fabrication method and c) the advanced data processing techniques that strengthen the sensing capabilities, allowing the quantitative and qualitative sensing of a wide range of gases.
Traditional sensing materials, e.g. metal oxides, and advanced sensing materials, e.g. carbon nanotubes derivatives, are gradually integrated into low-cost, battery-powdered and flexible systems targeting to the future applications in IoT. These materials and devices can be widely applied in many sectors, e.g. in environmental or safety control through detection of hazardous and dangerous gases. Inkjet printing method is ideal for personalized electronics while can print any desired feature on demand in a limited number of process steps. Moreover, is a waste-less and contact-less fabrication method, enabling the high throughput fabrication. Finally, the use of multiple sensing units, each one featuring different sensing material, provides a characteristic “signature” response to each analyte to be detected, which combined with the use of complex data processing techniques (pattern recognition) enables the achievement of high sensor selectivity to the agent of interest.
