ITENE will showcase printed electronics solutions to improve packaging functionality at LOPEC 2023

The research centre will display temperature and humidity indicating sensors for smart packaging and sustainable inks under development at the fair, which will be held in Munich from 1 to 2 March.

The ITENE research centre will showcase printed electronics solutions to improve the functionality of packaging at the LOPEC 2023 trade fair, which will be held from 2 to 3 March in Munich (Germany).

With the support of the Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad Empresarial (IVACE), dependent on the Generalitat Valenciana, the research centre will be located in the grouped stand of Functional Print Cluster and the 3NEO Platform of the printed electronics fair (stand 512 in Hall B0). In this space, ITENE will display research solutions that offer advanced functionalities for packaging and R&D&I developments in progress.

At this stand, visitors will be able to learn about conductive and functional inks that offer a wide range of applications and sustainable bio-based inks under development to improve the environmental impact of packaging.

Specifically, new printed electronics developments for packaging will be presented, such as NFC-powered sensors that, through a mobile app, allow to obtain information on different indicators such as temperature and humidity.

These developments were the result of the European LEE-BED project, financed by the Horizon 2020 programme, and achieved by the research centre together with the Spanish label company GRAFIETIC with the aim of monitoring the temperature and humidity variables and ensuring the correct functioning of a printer. They can be applied in packaging for different sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, e-commerce or food, as well as to improve the traceability of goods, facilitating stock control or product location, among others.

At the fair, ITENE will also present functional inks, including a microwaveable susceptor ink for snacks and V-range food products. Based on compounds that facilitate food heating and with a monolayer and more sustainable development, this ink is based on a paper substrate that replaces aluminised PET. Besides paper, it can be applied on other substrates for bakery products or microwaveable pizzas.

The research centre will also present its scaling services for printed electronics, including a pilot plant through which, by screen printing, flexography or ink jet, companies can transform their ideas into prototypes for further validation. ITENE´s printing technologies laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, employing sheet-to-sheet printing techniques, such as screen-printing and roll-to-roll, flexographic, gravure or inkjet printing on flexible and rigid substrates, cellulosic, (bio) plastics and textile.

Research in progress: new sustainable inks for packaging

In addition, ITENE will showcase the research it is carrying out to reduce the environmental impact of printed electronics. In particular, it will present new sustainable inks it is developing to reduce the use of materials obtained from non-renewable sources.

Those new bio-based conductive inks, that ITENE is developing in the framework of the R&D&I ECOTRON project,  financed by the Horizon Europe programme, will be able to be separated from the support on which they will be printed.