High Performance Particle-free Conductive Inks for Weight Reduction in Space and Aerospace Applications

With Electroninks’ CircuitJet, their new additive manufacturing PCB printer, and their state of the art Particle Free Ink (PFI), a domestic, all-in-one, 3-D printing solution is now possible.  Electroninks is bringing two state of the art developments to the PCB manufacturing space that together will drastically improve capabilities to rapidly produce the highest quality PCBs currently available. One of Electroninks Joint Development Clients is a strong proponent of this type of capability stating that “from an OEM perspective, you eventually buy one of the printers and create a circuit overnight rather than waiting weeks or perhaps months for a board from a traditional manufacturer using a subtractive process.” Tom Disy, Manager for Strategy and Business Development at Northrop Grumman’s Maritime Systems & Integration unit.  The largest differentiating factor for Electroninks and their ability to execute an additive manufacturing solution is their already patented PFI that is currently broadly commercially used. This PFI brings multiple unique advantages, to include industry high conductivity by using pure metallic films with no binders.  This results in plated-metal properties and excellent ink stability, printing yield, and film reliability at low cost. By increasing the conductivity and yield of the ink used on PCB’s the Air Force can dramatically save mission critical weight -- up to 90% -- across all PCBs.