AWARD YEAR
2019
CATEGORY
Play & Learning
GOALS
Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
KEYWORDS
Electronics, user driven innovation, 3d printing
COUNTRY
Canada
DESIGNED BY
Perumal Varun Chadalavada, Gowtham Ramachandran
WEBSITE
https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/2018/project/printem-instant-electronic-circuits-in-3-minutes/
Printem
INSTANT ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS IN 3 MINUTES
Our invention empowers anyone with access to an unmodified home-office printer to build flexible circuits under 3 minutes. Absolutely no harmful chemicals or special machines involved - simply print on our film, expose to light and peel to reveal the circuit. Printem is a multilayer stack of different photosensitive materials that work together to create the final copper circuit patter. The key factor involved in it is the principle of selective adhesion, printing on the Printem Film with a normal office printer creates a photo-mask, which only lets light through the film in sections where the ink is absent. Then, when the Printem film is exposed to light, the light penetrates the layers of the material and initiates a reaction that selectively "sticks" the copper to the substrate. When the user peels the circuit as shown in the youtube video. The copper 'tears' in exactly the right pattern to create the final circuit, all in under 3 minutes.