Sun Chemical has entered into a license agreement to introduce a new family of molecular inks for the printed electronics market with Groupe Graham International (GGI) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC).

The new molecular ink technology, developed by GGI and the NRC, will be produced by Sun Chemical and promoted collaboratively by all three organizations. Based on ionic molecules processed through a reduction process, the new IPS family of products will offer a viable alternative to conventional polymer thick film conductive inks and serve as a low-cost alternative to nano materials.

The IPS family of products include silver and copper metalization options that can be applied by screen, inkjet or other high-speed printing methods. The molecular inks feature sub-micron trace thickness that will enable the production of narrow traces in thin dielectric layers on a variety of applications, including: in-mold electronics (IME), printed antenna, displays, EMI/RFI and sensors.

“The IPS platform has been a multi-year development effort with the NRC, and we are pleased to have its value validated by a global market leader,” says Eric Saint-Jacques, chief executive officer at GGI. “We feel privileged to be working with Sun Chemical and look forward to supporting their global go-to-market initiatives with our solution design and manufacturing services.”

“We’re excited to help bring this innovative product line to the market,” says Roy Bjorlin, global commercial and strategic initiatives director, Sun Chemical Advanced Materials. “Customers will be pleased to have an option in the marketplace that features fine lines for printed electronics. We look forward to collaborating with GGI and the NRC on this project.”

“We’re excited to enter the next phase of development,” adds Thomas Ducellier, executive director, Printable Electronics Program, National Research Council of Canada.  “We look forward to seeing the unique attributes of the molecular ink platform address emerging market needs.”