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In this paper, a novel radio frequency identification (RFID) prototype is proposed with an embedded power source and other energy harvesting mechanisms on low-cost paper based substrate. Integration of RFID electronics, such as antenna, integrated circuit (IC) and sensors are also discussed for a variety of applications in transportation, logistics, and security. In addition, RFID antenna designs for high "global" bandwidth operation and rugged environments are discussed. A brief description of the protocol used in RFID ISO18000-6C was conclude the paper.

Great advances have been made in developing cheap, simple, multi-functional and energy-saving fabrication processes for flexible electronics.1 Paper, as a flexible, foldable, cost-efficient and mass productive substrate, has shown diverse applications for flexible electronics to meet such demand. Recently, we have successfully demonstrated the first nonvolatile resistive memory using paper as substrates by means of all-printing techniques.2 Moreover, we also implemented the algorithm of Origami art into the device design for the flexible optoelectronics, such as photodetector and nanogenerator, taking advantage of the foldability and adaptability of paper substrate. In particular, paper origami triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) using paper as the starting material, with high degree of flexibility, light weight, low cost, and recyclability is presented.3 We believe that these findings will pave a way for future energy harvesting and sensor design, especially for the development of green flexible electronics. Figure 1

Cellulose (in the form of printed paper) has always been the prime medium for displaying information in our society and is far better than the various existing display technologies. This is because of its high reflectivity, contrast, low cost and flexibility. There is a major initiative to push for a dynamic display technology that emulates paper (popularly known as "electronic paper"). We have successfully demonstrated the proof of the concept of developing a dynamic display on cellulose. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first significant effort to achieve an electronic display using bacterial cellulose. First, bacterial cellulose is synthesized in a culture of Acetobacter xylinum in standard glucose-rich medium. The bacterial cellulose membrane thus formed (not pulp) is dimensionally stable, has a paper-like appearance and has a unique microfibrillar nanostructure. The technique then involves first making the cellulose an electrically conducting (or semi-conducting) sheet by depositing ions around the microfibrils to provide conducting pathways and then immobilizing electrochromic dyes within the microstructure. The whole system is then cased between transparent electrodes, and upon application of switching potentials (2-5 V) a reversible color change can be demonstrated down to a standard pixel-sized area (ca. 100 microm2). Using a standard back-plane or in-plane drive circuit, a high-resolution dynamic display device using cellulose as substrate can be constructed. The major advantages of such a device are its high paper-like reflectivity, flexibility, contrast and biodegradability. The device has the potential to be extended to various applications, such as e-book tablets, e-newspapers, dynamic wall papers, rewritable maps and learning tools.

In a previous article, i wrote a brief piece on how to enhance papers that have been published at one of the IEEE Consumer Electronics (CE) Society conferences to create papers that can be considered for publishing in IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics (T-CE) [1]. Basically, it included some hints and tips to enhance a conference paper into what is required for a full archival journal paper and not fall foul of self-plagiarism. This article focuses on writing original papers specifically for T-CE.

This paper reviews the development of technology for eyewear-based wearable displays, including the microdisplay, viewing optics, electronics and frame systems, that are necessary for the commercialization of consumer products, and ultimately for the complete integration of the system within eyewear. The eyewear display industry has its origins in projects funded by DARPA, starting in 1990. Today, several technologies have proved viable including LCOS, transmissive LCD, and oLED. In addition to the microdisplay itself, the development of viewing optics that can be incorporated in eyewear has been essential, and several teams have developed optics that will be reviewed here. Supporting electronics must also be incorporated in eyewear, and this is made possible today by the high degree of integration in systems on a chip. Today's technologies allow our industry to satisfy a number of “design rules” for eyewear displays that will be discussed. Additionally, wireless connectivity now provides access to almost unlimited information from the cloud. The final step in the commercialization of this technology is the creation of compelling consumer applications, and the companies that provide this final step will lead an expansion of the consumer electronics industry.

Flexible and printable electronics are attractive techniques which have potential for broad applications not only in flexible but also in large area electronics. An effective and convenient method of fabricating high-resolution copper patterns with high conductivity and strong adhesion on flexible photopaper is demonstrated in this paper. Functional photopaper was prepared with inkjet printing of a palladium salt solution onto its surface, followed by electroless deposition of copper. Parameters of the printing process, such as voltage control waveform, temperature of printhead and substrate, meniscus vacuum level, printing height, etc. were optimized to obtain a robust and high resolution printing with feature dimensions down to 50 μm. Through a unique thermal sintering process, printed copper lines showed excellent conductivity of up to 3.9 × 107 S m−1 (>65% of bulk copper). The developed technique was successfully applied for fabricating paper based functional flexible circuits such as RFID antennae, micro-inductive coils and complex circuit boards.

Although paper electronics is a compelling concept, the large surface roughness and opaqueness of most paper substrates has hindered its development from a dormant idea to a thriving technology. A recent demonstration of transparent paper with nanoscale surface roughness has revived an interest in using renewable cellulose substrates for electronics and optoelectronics. In this short review, we will first summarize the recent progress of transparent paper electronics through structure engineering. We will also discuss the properties and functionalization of transparent paper, such as surface roughness, printability, thermal stability, etc. Finally, we will summarize the recent achievements on proof-of-concepts of transparent paper, which pave the way for next-generation green electronics fabricated with roll-to-roll printing methods. Advantages of transparent paper over traditional flexible plastic substrates and its challenges will also be discussed.

Paper-based electronics have been considered as one of the most exciting technologies in the near future due to sustainability, low cost, mechanical flexibility, etc. Even though there have been numerous studies regarding this technology, there is not any available quantitative study on how paper electronics would minimize the impact on the environment. This work aims to give the first detailed analysis regarding this important question. To this end, we for the first time designed and prototyped paper-based multilayer printed circuit boards (P-PCBs), which show comparable functions to the currently available organic printed circuit boards (O-PCBs); yet the P-PCBs adopt a “green” preparation process. A life cycle assessment study was performed to quantify the P-PCBs' environmental impacts, e.g. acidification potential, global warming potential, human toxic potential, ozone layer depletion potential, etc. Our current research reveals that the P-PCBs have about two magnitude lower impact on the environment than O-PCBs based on the results of the life cycle assessment, which suggests that the P-PCB technique is beneficial for the environment at the regional or global production level. The current study gives useful information and sheds light on the future technological directions for various paper based electronics studies.

The development of paper electronics would enable realization of extremely cheap devices for portable, disposable, and environmentally-benign electronics. Here, we propose a simple dry-writing tool similar to a pencil, which can be used to draw electrically conducting lines on paper for use in paper-based electronic devices. The fabricated pencil is composed of silver nanoparticles decorated on graphene layers to construct layered hybrid nanostructures. This pencil can draw highly conductive lines that are flexible and foldable on conventional papers. Electrodes drawn using this pencil on conventional copy paper are stable during repetitive mechanical folding and highly resistant to moisture/chemicals. This pencil can draw a conductive line where its resistance can be tuned by changing the amount of nanoparticles. A nonvolatile memory device is realized on papers by hand written lines with different resistance. All memory elements are composed of carbons on papers, so complete data security can be achieved by burning the memory papers. This work will provide a new opportunity to fabricate electronic devices on real papers with good conductivity as well as robust mechanical/chemical stability.

Foldable organic memory on cellulose nanofibril paper with bendable and rollable characteristics is demonstrated by employing initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) for polymerization of the resistive switching layer and inkjet printing of the electrode, where iCVD based on all-dry and room temperature process is very suitable for paper electronics. This memory exhibits a low operation voltage of 1.5 V enabling battery operation compared to previous reports and wide memory window. The memory performance is maintained after folding tests, showing high endurance. Furthermore, the quick and complete disposable nature demonstrated here is attractive for security applications. This work provides an effective platform for green, foldable and disposable electronics based on low cost and versatile materials.

Carbon-based electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials have witnessed a fast evolution in recent years. But challenges of lightweight, flexibility, and good heat dissipation properties required to explore new EMI shielding materials. Herein, a unique SiC-based hybrid composite paper was prepared, as an advanced thermally stable and conductive material for boosting the EMI performance. In this study, a lightweight and flexible network structure of mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was developed and SiC was incorporated during the fabrication process or synthesized directly within the matrix structure. EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of the hybrid composite papers was studied in the X-band frequency region and a maximum EMI SE value of −67 dB was achieved at a frequency of 10.3 GHz. In addition to EMI shielding properties, the hybrid composite paper shows high thermal stability and good thermal conductivity required for proper heat dissipation from the system accompanied by robust mechanical properties. These outcomes make SiC-composite paper attractive material for applications in the lightweight and flexible modern electronic devices with good heat dissipation characteristics.

Developing patterning techniques with practicability, cost-effectiveness and safety are essential for shape-confirmable integrated energy storage devices. Herein we design a novel flash foam stamp-inspired technique for simple fabrication of flexible high energy in-plane micro-supercapacitors based on interdigital electrodes of self-depositing electrochemically exfoliated graphene on paper substrates. This technique is an attractive and novel bottom-up microfabrication technology due to its advantages of simplicity and low-cost. These novelly developed all-solid-state, paper-based in-plane graphene micro-supercapacitors exhibit excellent electrochemical performances, such as high area specific capacitance of ∼4.02 mF cm−2 and excellent cycling stability (95.6% retention at 0.08 mA cm−2 for 5000 cycles). And these solid-state flexible micro-supercapacitors are observed non-obvious structural change and loss of performance under bending state, suggesting remarkable flexibility and mechanical stability. Therefore, such all-solid-state, flexible paper-based graphene micro-supercapacitors can potentially be used for wearable and portable electronics.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLED) are developing rapidly and provide a huge market potential for signage, lighting and display applications. Cost efficient manufacturing of OLED components on different flexible substrates is under heavy investigation. In this paper focus is on polymer OLEDs and their non-vacuum solution processing using roll-to-roll (R2R) printing techniques. In this paper VTT's R2R manufacturing process capabilities for printed OLED components are presented. Several demonstrator concepts based on printed OLED technology are introduced including; printed OLED elements 1) in a smart package, 2) a 7-segment display integrated in a ID-1 card, 3) an electronics voting card with OLED indicator and 4) a 35 cm2 OLED lighting element printed on glass.

Tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBA) is the most common brominated fire retardant. In this study, a TBBA containing paper laminated printed circuit board (PCB) prepared from novolac was pyrolysed by both TGA and in a quartz glass reactor between 40 and 1,000 degrees C. The products were online detected by MS. It was found that the PCB degraded in three steps. Step one (

Wireless power transfer (WPT) technique has been applied in wide range of applications. Although many researchers are working on investigating novel technology to WPT, there remain a number of design challenges to overcome. This review paper discusses the state of art WPT technology, its modeling techniques, optimization approaches and future directions.

This paper describes the potential of hi-res display fabrication using OLED photolithography. We demonstrate 1250 ppi multicolor arrays, pixel scaling down to 3 μm pitch, integration in active displays, and improving lifetime after patterning (200 hours T75, smOLEDs). Photolithography can enable low-cost, high resolution displays for the 8K – VR era.

This paper describes the potential of hi-res display fabrication using OLED photolithography. We demonstrate 1250 ppi multicolor arrays, pixel scaling down to 3 μm pitch, integration in active displays, and improving lifetime after patterning (200 hours T75, smOLEDs). Photolithography can enable low-cost, high resolution displays for the 8K – VR era.

In the recent years, displays for mobile electronic devices have been revolutionized, mostly driven by smartphones and tablets. Strongest trends are (besides growing sizes) the ever-increasing resolution, improved contrast, very good viewing angle and color performance. This went hand in hand with a trend to more “refined” display technologies, namely fringe field switching (FFS). Now, as the latest step, Ultra-Brightness (UB-) FFS is at the brink to widespread commercialization in mobile and IT displays. It can provide transmittance improvement of more than 15%. The Liquid Crystal (LC) plays a key role here, because UB-FFS uses LCs with negative dielectric anisotropy — whereas “traditional” FFS uses LCs with positive dielectric anisotropy. There are two key challenges. First is providing LCs with a fast switching speed. Second point is keeping the high reliability level of FFS even though completely different materials with much higher challenges on reliability are used. In this paper the recent progress for both key points will be discussed.

We present the fabrication and electrical and mechanical characteristics of a 1-μm-thick ultraflexible organic transistor and demonstrate the imperceptible organic electronic systems for “Electronic Skins.” Ultraflexible and lightweight electronics, e.g., organic solar cells, polymer light-emitting diodes and active matrix amplifiers, are manufactured on 1-μm-thick plastic substrates