MONTREAL, Canada—The Printability and Graphic Communications Institute (ICI) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada invested in a OMET Varyflex VF430 hybrid press four years ago with the financial support of the CFI (Canadian Foundation for Innovation) and the NRC (National Research Council Canada). OMET also showed great interest in supporting ICI in this acquisition and collaborated with the Institute to make some modifications on the press to fit the requirements of functional printing.
In the past few years, ICI has successfully printed conductive materials and patterns for smart sensors or communicating device on this Varyflex. One of its achievements is the industrialization of a fully printed 1.5 V or 3V flexible battery using flexography, screen printing and lamination processes. Thanks to the collaborative work between ICI’s team and industrial partners from the Canadian printing industry, this low-cost battery has risen the interest of big players in the flexible electronics and smart packaging market willing to find a low-cost source of energy to power millions of smart applications.
ICI plans to continue to increase the potential of the Varyflex with the collaboration of OMET. Additional printing and drying units will be added. Other technologies (i.e. sintering, robotics, etc.) may be also considered to increase the versatility for hybrid electronics manufacturing.