SUstainable self-charging power systems developed by INKjet printing

Industry demands to reduce the weight of components in order to increase productivity and energy efficiency have led to the development of embedded functional electronics solutions to reduce the weight and volume of smart products. The Sustainable Development Goals balance the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental). SUINK will focus its developments on meeting sustainability indicators along the entire value chain (design, manufacturing, use and end-of-life)

The main objective of SUINK is to design and implement sustainable, flexible and printable self-charging power systems (SCPS) able to supply power to a wide range of sensors. This SCPS will be formed by sustainable elements: 1) a piezoelectric energy generator to harvest electrical energy from mechanical vibrations based on pìezoelectric PLA, 2) a rectifying system as a connection circuit with 3) a fully printed biobased supercapacitor as energy storage component.

The overall solution will be based on the proper combination of biobased conductive, dielectric and piezoelectric inks that will be applied by inkjet printing, a high throughput and easy-to-implement process, on biobased flexible substrates. The printed substrates will be implemented in the following elements: 1) a PLA seat (temperature sensor), 2) a PLA bracket located inside the car, specifically in the windscreen of the car (temperature/humidity sensor) and 3) a thermoset composite (strain sensor). The foils will be used for the creation of in-mold structural electronics through a) plastic injection over moulding; b) one-shot hybrid textile and c) autoclave/sheet moulding processes, towards the development of multifunctional components meeting the requirements of the automotive. SUINK will consider not only the sustainability during the design, manufacturing and use, but also will promote the circularity at the products end of life implementing new recyclability and reusability protocols for thDFAW EW RWE