The focus topics at LOPEC

From sensors in passenger seats to electrochromic windows to ultra-flat touch screens in the cockpit: Numerous applications of printed electronics and 3D structural electronics are used in the field of mobility or will soon be ready for series production.

For example, printed heating elements continue to gain with the growing importance of electric cars. Since electric motors produce significantly less waste heat to be used for heating than gasoline and diesel aggregates, printed, lightweight, super-flat heating elements ensure pleasant temperatures inside the vehicle, for example in seats and behind door and side panels.

Another application of printed electronics in the mobility sector are windows and mirrors that change their coloring stepless at the touch of a button or through automatic control. This is ensured by an electrochromic layer printed on the back of the mirror or between the two flat glass panes. Depending on the voltage, it changes its permeability.

Interior and exterior mirrors in the car can thus be dimmed automatically as soon as they are hit by glaring light from other vehicles. For the windows, the driver determines the desired degree of tinting at the touch of a button. There are also airplanes today where passengers can adjust the tinting of their windows from transparent to jet-black.

In other respects, too, restrictions in design, functionality and feel are virtually a thing of the past. This allows, for example, mechanical switches to be replaced by tactile buttons with haptic feedback. This in turn enables exciting day-night designs as well as seamless surfaces with a high-quality look and feel.

Luminaires with organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs for short, will increasingly be seen on the outside of vehicles. In the future, they will be printed on film, making them highly flexible and easily adaptable to curved shapes.

Printed electronics allows mechanical switches to be replaced by tactile buttons with haptic feedback.

Luminaires with organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs for short, are seen on the outside of vehicles. They can be printed on film, making them highly flexible and easily adaptable to curved shapes.

Printed Electronics enables sustainable products

PE Printing processes are very energy efficient compared to conventional production processes. As an additive process, printing consumes less material and reduces the amount of waste needing disposal or treatment. The materials used are often organic chemicals and non-hazardous to the environment, hence recycling is possible. On the product side, the use of printed electronics pays off, too. It saves material and reduces the weight of a product.

At LOPEC the flexible, organic and printed electronics industry presents its technology and applications which enable more sustainable products for Smart Living, Mobility and other markets. Visit LOPEC and see e.g. how PE can help to prevent food waste, lessens fuel consumption or generates cleanest electricity.