C3Nano, Inc. has announced a new formulation that can be cured rapidly at ambient conditions to produce highly conductive coatings on a variety of temperature sensitive substrates. Excellent optical clarity can also be achieved, the company reports.

The new room temperature curing ink unlocks new application possibilities for life-sciences, automotive, packaging, consumer electronics and disposable commodities that have previously been impossible or too costly to bring to commercial market.

To meet the unmet need for conductive coatings on softer and temperature sensitive substrates, C3Nano developed the Activegrid LT (Low Temperature) Ink Series.

Activegrid LT enables new technologies, devices, and applications in potentially endless markets ranging from high-volume and low-cost applications like food packaging (depositing on Saran-wrap) and consumer electronics (coatings on polarizers, anti-static films, adhesives) to sophisticated bio-medical devices and applications which often use bio-compatible and highly engineered polymeric materials with maximum process temperatures below ~ 50 °C.

C3Nano’s Activegrid LT innovation is part of its conductive materials platform composed of nanowires, nanomaterials, formulations, thin films, and coatings and further adds to its broad and industry leading technology and IP portfolio. In addition to providing the highest quality and largest scale silver nanowires, and the top performing flexible, and stretchable transparent conductive inks, C3Nano now also provides the lowest temperature and fastest curing conductive inks on the market.

“This innovation liberates the imagination to design new smart surfaces and connectivity-based technologies. We want to transform how new products like smart and IoT devices, packaging, medical devices, automobiles, walls and quite frankly every surface can now engage with a customer, providing valuable information, interactivity or brand experiences,” says Ajay Virkar, co-founder and CTO of C3Nano.

C3Nano’s new room temperature curing conductive ink can dramatically reduce manufacturing energy requirements, lowering costs and enabling less expensive processing – helping bring more commercial new smart surface applications to market at greater scale. As global brands and electronics manufacturers become more ESG minded in their operational process commitment to the environment and community, the new curing process addresses a major factor in bringing new innovative products to market.

New Applications and Market Opportunities
With lower cost and new surface coating opportunities through the electrical functionalization of wide range of materials, films and substrates, there are boundless new application opportunities, including the following:
• Life-Sciences: Smart medical bandages, bio sensors, wearables require soft and low temperature substrates and process.
• Packaging: Shipping and in place tracking, ID, product monitoring through inexpensive tags using film substrates and processing. Disposable and consumable electronic tags, displays, and circuits.
• Consumer Electronics and Automotives: Coating on temperature sensitive substrates and multifunctionality/reduction in weight, layers, miniaturization for example display components, coatings and deposition on polarizers, adhesives, anti-static films.
• Disposable/Consumable Products: Electronic stickers, one-time displays, high-volume sensors, antennas, simple circuits, NFC, RFID.

As part of the launch of Activegrid room temperature curing transparent conductive ink, C3Nano is seeking new development partners and customers to enable new commercial applications which exploit the highly unique and revolutionary ambient temperature and processing time advantages.