Advanced Devices and Materials for Printed Flexible Electronics

Dear Colleagues,

Printed electronics have emerged as a key technology used in sensors and various electronic devices since it combines electronics manufacturing with text and graphics printing. This combination allows for the production of high-quality electronics that are thin, flexible, lightweight, highly economical, and environmentally friendly.

The development of these devices is possible through a combination of various advanced polymers with new coating and printing techniques capable of working at low temperatures, compatible with the polymeric substrates. Printing technologies allow for manufacturing on non-planar surfaces otherwise impossible with old-fashioned fabrication techniques.

The rapid development of this field has been stimulated by the continuous evolution of large-scale electronic applications with many applications in flat-panel displays, medical image sensors, electronic paper, etc. Printed technologies are the main platform for flexible electronics, the advancement of which has spanned the past few years, ranging from the development of flexible solar cell arrays and flexible organic light-emitting diode displays to fully flexible electronic devices.

Today, the demand for cost-effective, flexible, and smart products is a decisive factor in the choice of printed electronics manufacturing technologies. In recent years, interest in flexible electronic systems used on non-planar surfaces has grown considerably in areas such as aerospace, automobiles, biomedical, robotics, and health.

Currently, research on printed and flexible electronics faces many issues, including materials, print process, interfacing, and integration. Solutions regarding low-cost and high-volume production problems may vary depending on the application.

This Special Issue seeks papers dealing with the development of novel printed and flexible devices that push the technology further and set new application frames. Moreover, the scope of this issue focuses on the presentation of new advance materials that can be implemented in any aspect of printed and flexible devices (active-functional materials, substrates, sensing, passivation, packaging, etc.).

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Flexible device for applications in wearables, IoT, health, etc.;
• Flexible lighting and displays;
• 3D printing electronics in system integration of functional products and solutions;
• Sensors, biosensors, and e-textiles;
• Intelligent and smart packaging, safety, and security;
• Advanced functional materials (carbon nanotubes; encapsulation materials; graphene; OLED display materials; quantum dots; silver; copper; carbon conductive inks; substrates such as PET, PEN, paper, and others; transparent conductive films; etc.);
• Flexible organic and printed electronics and photonics;
• Printing processes; and
• Flexible and printed batteries.

Prof. Dr. Grigoris Kaltsas
Guest Editor

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