Printed logic startup signs greetings card deal

LONDON — Nano ePrint Ltd., a spin off from the University of Manchester in England, has announced that it is developing an all-printed electronic greeting card in collaboration with Novalia Ltd., to a specification provided by Hallmark subsidiary Tigerprint Ltd.

The £300,000 (about $450,000) project is supported by grant funding from three northern U.K. Regional Development Agencies (Yorkshire Forward, Northwest Regional Development Agency and One NorthEast).

Nano ePrint (Manchester, England) is working mainly with metallic oxides, such as zinc oxide and derivatives, as a printable semiconductor material and PET film as a flexible substrate. The company makes use of embossing or stamping (nano-imprint lithography) to create planar transistors and diodes. The company claims its 2-D nanoscale technology simplifies the printing of electronic circuits, while achieving more than 10 times the performance and more than 100 times the density of conventional printed electronics.

"Nano ePrint has overcome many of the obstacles delaying the successful introduction of printed electronics products; their unique programmable approach fits perfectly with the requirements for functional greeting cards and other novelty products such as toys and games," said Mark Boyden, technical manager at Tigerprint.

Kate Stone, chief executive officer at Novalia, commented: "The products being developed for Tigerprint are an ideal showcase for Novalia's vision of interactive printed media, enabled by Nano ePrint's nearly invisible printed logic."

Related links and articles:

www.nanoeprint.com

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