EYRE (Environmentally-friendly Electronics on Paper)

Project Title: EYRE (Environmentally-friendly Electronics on Paper)

Project Duration: 07/2019 – 03/2022

Project Description: In recent years, the field of electronics has experienced extraordinary advances, resulting in a revolution, where complimentary to mainstream inorganic semiconductors (like Silicon and III-V compounds) on traditional wafers, completely new materials are paving the way to light-weight, flexible, transparent, stretchable, and even bio-degradable devices. The possibility to realize electronics on such disruptive substrates has pioneered novel applications, such as wearable and textile integrated systems for mobile healthcare, sport and well-being. Furthermore, the wide applicability of this kind of pervasive and versatile electronics for Internet of Things (IoT) technology calls for unobtrusive integration of these devices on everyday objects. The exponential growth of this market however opens unprecedent challenges related to the management of energy consumption and environmental impact of these components. Each device must be fabricated with energy efficient and non-polluting methods and must be recyclable. In this context, the EYRE project aims at using sustainable, environmentally-friendly materials and processes for the production of electronic devices, in order to reduce pollution and accumulation of solid waste and at the same time reduce the manufacturing cost. In particular, EYRE aims at demonstrating the feasibility of manufacturing cost-effective, flexible and transient electronic devices on paper using environmentally-friendly fabrication techniques. At this aim, paper will be employed as a cheap, non-toxic and bio-degradable substrate to realize thin-film transistors and circuits based on carbon-based semiconductors and metallic layers. To realize these devices, the EYRE project will utilize a set of different printing methods, such as screen printing, dispense printing, aerosol jet printing, and spray deposition, which exhibit a lower energy footprint compared to standard vacuum-based technologies.

Principal Investigator: Prof. Luisa Petti

Project Collaborators:
Prof. Niko Münzenrieder, Faculty of Science and Technology,
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

Funding Agency: UNIBZ RTD Call 2019

For more information please contact Prof. Luisa Petti.