Mass produced printed temperature sensors

In this report we describe a material set and method for the fabrication of all-printed thermistors on flexible substrates. The development of these devices has been driven by mass production concerns and as such we show scale up of the active temperature sensitive ink and fabrication of the thermistors in an industrial environment using production scale equipment. The temperature sensitive material used is a blend of metal oxide particles and a eutectic alloy solder paste. This ink can be reliably printed using screen-printing and is processed at temperatures lower than 150C, making it compatible with low-cost plastic substrates. Complete devices, fabricated in air on a PET film using screen-printed conductive silver contacts, show a resistivity of about 100 k cm, and a greater than 1% change in resistance per degree Celsius between 20 and 70 C. Encapsulation of the devices with a flexible film was necessary in order to prevent moisture absorption which causes the resistance values to drift over time. Remaining issues for the commercialization of such printed sensors will also be discussed, as will the incorporation of these thermistors into more complex integrated systems containing other printed electronic components.

Citation

Whiting, G. L.; Daniel, J. H.; Uhland, S.; Knights, J.; Larsson, B.; Arias, A. C.; Veres, J.; Lundgren, M.; Sime, D. Mass produced printed temperature sensors. FlexTech Alliance 2012 Flexible Electronics and Displays Conference and Exhibition; 2012 February 8; Phoenix, AZ.