Henkel highlights pad printing and antenna technologies at LOPEC 2023

In addition to its solution portfolio for smart surfaces and digital healthcare, the company will focus on novel pad printing solutions for antenna applications. At booth 508 in hall B0, Henkel will also offer dedicated focus hours on a variety of different topics to demonstrate the potential of printed electronics solutions and applications.

“LOPEC is the leading international platform for printed electronics and brings together all relevant global players from research to application,” explained Stijn Gillissen, Head of Printed Electronics at Henkel. “This year we will showcase our expertise with a variety of material innovations and a special focus on novel pad printing solutions for antennas. We will also highlight our partnership network as we strongly believe that close collaborations across the entire value chain are key for future innovations. Together with our ecosystem of partners, we aim to further drive printed electronics solutions across industrial markets.”

Henkel is a supplier of printed electronics materials and services. The broad Loctite portfolio of functional inks includes silver inks, carbon inks, dielectric, and other non-conductive inks as well as silver chloride inks. These materials enable Henkel´s partners to develop printed electronics applications tailored for the specific properties demanded by industrial customers – for example in healthcare, automotive, and consumer electronics.

Pad printing of antenna applications

During this year´s LOPEC Henkel will present its new materials tailored for printed antennas. The company has developed highly conductive inks that enable efficient 3D pad printing for a variety of antenna solutions. The newly developed inks can be pad printed directly onto a 3D surface and integrated into the housings, for example of smartphones. To highlight the pad printing technology and to demonstrate its potential, Henkel will also exhibit the pad printing equipment of its partner Teca-Print, to demonstrate the potential of the technology.

“Pad printing is a proven processing method for antenna applications with advantages in efficiency, design flexibility and sustainability”, explained Aad van der Spuij, Business Development Manager Printed Electronics at Henkel. “In combination with Teca-Prints expertise our novel materials enable innovative printed electronics solutions for integrated antennas, for example in smartphone housings or other 3D-shaped devices. The pad printing technology directly responds to customer demands for further miniaturisation or increasing functionalities and offers potential in markets such as smart watches, semiconductors or automotive electronics.”

Broad portfolio for digital healthcare and smart surfaces

Besides the novel pad printing solutions Henkel will also showcase its growing portfolio for digital healthcare and smart surfaces. Among others, the company will present its novel INKxperience Kit including different sensor technologies for leak detection, moisture level sensing and others that enable professional engineers to explore and experiment with the technology of printed electronics. In addition, Henkel will demonstrate a variety of solutions for automotive such as printed heaters and its newly launched sensor demonstrator for healthcare patches as well as smart diaper applications.

To further underline the importance of collaboration and to foster the exchange with customers and visitors Henkel will organise a variety of focus hours from ecosystem partners at the booth. On each day the company has reserved deep-dive hours for the topics of smart surfaces, digital healthcare, pad printing, and antenna solutions and technology partners. During these sessions, Henkel partners in different areas will join the booth and pitch their companies and developments and will be available for exchange with potential customers.

In addition to the exhibition Melanie Wendrikat, Market Strategy Manager at Henkel for printed electronics, will give a live presentation at the LOPEC Business Conference on 28^th February from 4:20 pm to 4:40 pm. Under the title ‘Less hassle, more innovation – successful IoT sensor solutions with printed electronics’, she will elaborate on new opportunities to integrate smart surface designs via printed electronics being a key enabler to the creation of intelligent surface solutions. The presentation will specifically highlight the latest material innovations and applications, as an example of how printed electronics materials in combination with the right ecosystem partners create a new generation of integrated and retrofitted sensors, adaptable to multiple kinds of surfaces, for improved connectivity, monitoring and data collection.