TechConnect World Innovation in Wash DC on May 22nd and other Innovations

Design HMI LLC

Attended the innovation expo and will have quite a few updates on technology innovation in the field of Nano Technology.

Printed components: technologies and processes for tomorrow’s printed organic electronics industry was presented by Liten CEA Tech which allows components to be deposited by printing onto flexible surfaces.

Use of Nano Technology was demonstrated like ABS developing hand-held glucose meter which can measure glucose in a variety of specimens including: whole blood, serum or a venous blood specimen with sub micro liter range volumes.

Please refer Diabetes: We Care

Another presentation is the BeCool™ cogeneration system that produces, heating and air conditioning (A/C).

CondAlign Technology where electric field is used to structure and align particles in a polymer matrix and then locked into their aligned positions as the matrix is cured, creating a composite which has many potential applications. The technology can be processed according to a wide range of specifications, such as:

• Film Thickness: 10 µm – 1 mm
• Particle size: “nano” – 150 µm
• Chain density: 13 000 per mm2 – 500 per mm2
• Resistance: < 0.02 Ω – MΩ (through 1 cm2)
• Filling fraction: 1% – to 70% per volume
• Fillers: Metals – Alloys – Nanotubes – Carbon – Alumina
• Matrix: Polyurethane – Acrylics – Silicon – Epoxy
• Film properties: Hard – Flexible – Stretchable – Sticky – …

Infingent Silica has developed flame-retardant nanoparticles available as an easy-to-use powder that can be used on various plastics and polymers.

No user wants electronics products to catch on fire due to short circuit or a faulty component. Infingent has developed a fire retardant which uses nanotechnology to ensure that all electrical and electronic products are protected from the risks of fire – helping manufacturers build trust in their costumers. They can be used to protect cables, enclosures, PCBs, etc. with minimal fuss.

Nanotechnology Turns Glass Surfaces into Digital Displays through University of Waterloo fourth-year nanotechnology engineering design project. Below are just two examples:

Lumotune Inc. has developed a flexible thin film applied to glass that can be turned from transparent to opaque, just by changing the setting on a handheld app.

They are now focused on developing transparent electronic displays that can be put on any surface.

The nanomaterial is connected to a control system with tiny wires plugged into the computer. The control system transmits voltages to areas or pixels on the display to change their transparency, thus forming images. Lumotune created a prototype with 25 pixels during their fourth-year nanotechnology project. Over the past year, they have improved its technology to 3000 pixels with image retention capability, and well working towards their target of 1 million pixels.

Their technology uses .002 kilowatts of electricity per hour per square meter, which is significantly lower than conventional LCD displays.

Gaétan Laroche science team at Laval University focused on a universal problem commonly encountered in our day-to-day lives: fogging of glass surfaces. Thanks to its research work, the team developed an anti-fog coating, which unlike current solutions is permanent. This achievement required the researchers to work on a nano-metric scale, so as not to interfere with the optical properties of glass.

This permanent anti-fog coating will help improve the performance of products and equipment. Covered by two patents, this innovation arising from nanotechnology has potential applications in a number of markets.

Nanoimprint LED working on technology application to improve light out coupling efficiency of LEDs with nanoimprint approach to place the nanostructures on top of the LEDs while another way is to make the LEDs on patterned sapphire substrates (PSS), where nanoimprint is used for cost efficient fabrication of the PSS.

NILT works with several LED companies and has great experience in making wafer sized NIL stamps or molds with sub-wave length dot patterns or photonic bandgap structures (PBG), used directly in a NIL process for patterning of LEDs or used as masters for making polymer NIL stamps.

POLIGRAT specializes in the development, production and application of processes for the finishing of metal surfaces.

PolyDrop’s patented technology was developed to enhance the electrostatic discharge capabilities of coatings electronic applications. PolyDrop solution uses conjugated polymer nanotechnology with a doping process to create a product that is introduced into coatings as a liquid additive. Their additive requires no additional equipment or capital investment for the production line, meets engineering specifications for electrostatic discharge dissipation with significantly less loading than metallic solutions and helps manufacturers to obtain the weight reduction and environmental standards they desire.

Molex Flexible Circuits though not part of the Innovation Show still needs to be mentioned and they expanded its printed electronics portfolio with the recent acquisition of Minnesota-based Soligie, Inc.

Though not exhibited please review Vibration Speakers design from Shenzhen Newadin Technology Co., Ltd

PDIM (Pre Deposited Images in Metal) is a process which selectively deposits conductive metal in its pure state onto plastic film to form images including circuitry. 

The metal of choice is additively deposited onto the surface of the chosen type of substrate plastic film forming customized images on a high speed roll to roll process line.

Unlike common “printed electronics” technologies, PDIM is NOT a printing process therefore doesn’t make use of conductive inks.

Being additive, PDIM is not etched, engraved, laser ablated or subtracted in any way.  PDIM metal deposition isn’t a thermal transfer nor is it hot stamped.

Being selective and additive, no resist inks, etchants or strippers are consumed.  Without inkjet technology requiring use of constraining nano technology inks, PDIM is processed at much higher speed than possible with this digital print process making it very economical.

UltraTech’s new product, is an odor removal solution that meets our customers’ needs while overcoming these challenges. Years of research and product development resulted in an innovation we call Aveho™ Odor Removal Technology, based on the Latin ‘aveho’ which means “to remove or carry away.”

Aveho odor removal technology is an engineered material consisting of micro-sized particles that capture and physically bind odor-causing compounds or catalytically convert the odor molecules into non-odorous molecules.

Fujimi Powder Technology Alumina is chemically stable and excellent in hardness, heat resistance, and mechanical properties. That is the reason alumina is widely used as a structural material, an abrasive grain and a cutting tool. In general, alumina powder is manufactured by milling mass of sintered or melted alumina at high temperature followed by grading. The precise control of synthesis condition enables to provide reproducible shape and size of particles.

Bi-Layer Multifunctional Coating for The Prevention of Icing. Frost and ice accumulation are major safety and performance concerns for aircraft, sea vessels, automobiles, wind turbines, and off-shore oil platforms. averse) surfaces and lubricant-impregnated surfaces have been alternatives to actively applied anti-icing systems. Current coatings however, when the nanostructures become frosted over these coatings actually increase ice accumulation and lose functionality.

Researchers at ASU have created a bi-layer multifunctional coating with static and dynamic surface interactions for preventing ice accumulation. In the absence of frost or condensation, the outer layer prevents ice accumulation by repelling impinging droplets, whereas the accumulation of frost stimulates antifreeze secretion, effectively melting the ice without using any more antifreeze than necessary. While the antifreeze will eventually need to be replenished, the bi-layer coating lasts much longer and uses considerably less antifreeze than the leading anti-icing treatments.

Vision-Based Multimodal Tactile Sensor Module Value Proposition can provide a soft tactile sense and cushion feeling if contacted and performs both as a sensor and a buffer without additional soft materials.

Any soft sheet or cushion-type materials can be used, and the size, texture and hardness can be changed, thus being used for various purposes. Mechanical strength of the VMTSM depends on the materials.

Multi-Purpose: Various information such as three-dimension coordinate value of contact point, pressure distribution, amplitude and direction of force, biological signal can be obtained.

Low-Cost: Hardware of the VMTSM is composed of ready-made parts and can be customized according to usage and application; its core function is realized by the specific image processing and sensor fusion software.

The DigiTouch is a fully articulated prosthetic finger which can be designed to replace any of the four fingers, with plans for a thumb variant. It can be scaled to fit any size hand or level of digit amputation and/or birth defect. Current design functions as any other finger in regards to strength and dexterity, with room for improvement.

Gentoo is a hydrophobic coating with outstanding water shedding attributes. This property greatly reduces corrosion and extends the service lifetime of metal components. Preventing corrosion and reducing maintenance costs and out of service time for vessels, vehicles and equipment would be an almost immeasurable cost saving measure. The coating is also extremely thin (4-9 µm) and lightweight with robust adhesion to glass, polymer (acrylic, polycarbonate), paint (polyurethane, latex, acrylic), and metallic (aluminum, steel, etc.) substrates making it an excellent treatment for aircraft canopies and vehicle windshields for increased visibility.