Ground-breaking PowerCoat® printed electronics paper wins elite World Technology Network prize

Fifth honour in just 12 months is testament to the exciting possibilities across all sectors of Arjowiggins Creative Papers’ ground breaking printed electronics paper technology.

December 2013 – Just one year after Arjowiggins Creative Papers stormed the printed electronics market with its ultra smooth, 100% recyclable paper PowerCoat®, the paper manufacturer has been made a member of the exclusive World Technology Network (WTN) of innovative individuals and organisations. Membership of this global organisation boasts many of the world’s top innovatory individuals and organisations and comes by virtue of winning the WTN ‘Material Corporate Award’ with PowerCoat®.

The selection process for the year’s best innovators is rigorous. The shortlist is drawn up from nominations from the 1000+ existing members of the WTN and nominees must present comprehensive data for in-depth analysis. The list includes individuals and corporations across 20 different fields (Art, Law, Design, IT, Health/Medicine, Bio-technology, Environment, Materials and more). Others honoured at a ceremony at the WTN Summit in New York in November included Nobel Laureate Alan J Heeger for his work on electronic polymers; the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA for the Mars Curiosity Rover Project; IBM for its healthcare innovation, the Watson Intelligent Engine for Computer Assisted Diagnostics, and Luis von Ahn, inventor and founder of CAPTCHA, the Internet security system which provides security text that can be read by humans but not by computers.  Full details of this year’s winners can be seen on the WTN website at: http://www.wtn.net


The WTN accolade coincides with the launch of two new PowerCoat ranges:

PowerCoat® HD

PowerCoat® XD

PowerCoat® HD is a range based on the original premium product and introduces two weights. This range continues to be the perfect partner for those applications requiring excellent definition with superb electronic functionality and graphics quality.

The all-new PowerCoat® XD range offers exciting possibilities for high volume markets and presents an affordable and environmentally sustainable alternative to PET. The completely new range of interactive papers are designed for printing techniques that require lower definition and material deposition, such as labelling, ticketing and other high volume items.

Both ranges deliver superb print quality with reduced consumption of expensive inks.

PowerCoat® is the ideal solution for:

• Resistors, capacitors, self-inductance and other passive components
• More efficient creation of RFID antennae where less ink can be used
• Sensing technology such as walls and handheld devices
• Electrodes for batteries, circuitry for display, lighting etc
• Integration of intelligent functionality in disposable labelling, tickets and packaging

The intrinsic characteristics of PowerCoat®, including its ultra-smoothness, tearability (depending on the weight) and its amazing capabilities of quick photonic sintering, enable a wide range of applications in any sector with a potential cross-over between the real and the virtual, from advertising, communication/media, design and packaging to the medical, textile, food and pharmaceutical industries. These can range from high volume applications to very demanding applications.

Five Times a Winner

In addition to the WTN award, PowerCoat® is also a winner of the ‘Paper and Board Innovation of the Year’ prize from Packaging and Converting Intelligence; an Innovative Excellence Award from the InterTech Awards of The Printing Industries of America; a prestigious ‘Product Development Award’ from the IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe/Graphene LIVE 2013 Awards, and induction into the Material Connexion® international Library, reserved for highly innovative and sustainable materials.

More about the new PowerCoat® Ranges

PowerCoat® HD
This is the original patented PowerCoat® product, now available in two standard paper weights: 95µm and 230µm. Additionally, Arjowiggins Creative Papers can develop customised products, adapted to the needs of the customer. This continues to be the perfect partner for those applications requiring excellent definition with superb electronic functionality and graphics quality.

The products in this range are ultra-smooth and yield outstanding results in inkjet and vacuum deposited techniques where ink/material coating thickness is below 1µm and pattern details can go below 5µm.

Its assets include:

• Extremely low usage of expensive materials/inks
• High sintering capabilities in air, photonic and thermal processes
• High thermal stability in colour and dimension
• Excellent mechanical strength across a wide range of temperatures
• Available in sheet and reel formats, compatible across all printing techniques

It is ideal for items that require high resolution patterning for sensors, complex circuitry and capacitors, for example, and for applications that include micro-electronics and electro-plating. It is compatible across a full range of printing techniques, delivering superb performances with Inkjet, Flexo, Gravure, Screen Printing and Laser Ablation processes. 

PowerCoat® XD
This is a valuable newcomer in the printed electronics market. It offers a completely new range of interactive papers designed for printing techniques that require lower definition and material deposition, such as labelling, ticketing and other high volume items. This paper is again available in sheet and reel formats and shares with the HD range a number of valuable characteristics including:

• High thermal stability in colour and dimension
• High sintering capabilities in air, photonic and thermal processes
• 100% recyclable

This is an ideal substrate for Screen Printing, Roll-to-Roll Flexo-Helio, Gravure and Offset printing techniques.

About PowerCoat® 

PowerCoat® is a revolutionary resource that supports the rapidly expanding printed electronics sector, which is expected to grow exponentially over the next 20 years. The paper facilitates the integration of a whole range of electronic functions into graphics, from embedded RFID tags to more complex intelligent functionalities, and offers unlimited potential in the medical, food, pharmaceutical, electronics, education, science, packaging, design and communications industries, amongst others.

The paper has a sustainable substrate with polymer-like smoothness (as low as 10 nanometers) that offers excellent printability and ink adhesion properties without any plastic content. Its fine surface allows high-resolution fine patterning (down to 5µm) of any solution-based electronic layer. Thanks to its natural roll-to-roll capability, it is also possible to produce large area flexible products in a continuous printing process.

Using existing pressroom environments and processes, the remarkable thermal stability of the paper allows for precision control during sintering (the process which fuses conductive inks to the substrate). Its structure can withstand the high temperatures required for low-resistance silver ink without the discolouration experienced by other papers on the market, and significantly reduces the consumption of these expensive inks.

With its natural properties and incredible smoothness,  makes way for more efficient use of expensive chemicals and inks and is 100% recyclable, biodegradable and FSC certified[1], allowing not only tremendous saving on the cost of production but also a significant reduction in environmental impact.

For more information please visit www.powercoatpaper.com

About the World Technology Network

The WTN is a curated membership community comprised of the world's most innovative individuals and organizations in science, technology, and related fields. The WTN and its members – those creating the 21st century – are focused on exploring what is imminent, possible, and important in and around emerging technologies. The WTN brings key players together – from cutting-edge technologists to forward-thinking financiers, from conceptual futurists to grounded entrepreneurs, from insightful science writers to savvy marketers, from big-picture government officials to focused policy analysts, and from the world's leading corporations to the world's newest start-ups – helping to make things happen sooner and better than they
might have.

About the WTN Awards

The World Technology Awards are presented each year to the outstanding innovators from each sector within the technology arena, both as a way to honor those individuals and as a vetting mechanism to determine the newest WTN members. The Awards are announced each year in a gala ceremony at the close of the annual World Technology Summit. The World Technology Summit is a global gathering of the WTN membership as well as other delegates. For more information please visit: http://www.wtn.net

[1]© 1996 Forest Stewardship Council A.C. The mark of responsible forestry.

For more information about or images of PowerCoat® please contact Jose-Anne d’Auvergne at  jose-anne.dauvergne@arjowiggins.com or Gael Depres at gael.depres@arjowiggins.com

About Arjowiggins Creative Papers

Arjowiggins Creative Papers is a leading fine papers manufacturer. It has 1,300 employees and its products are distributed in 82 countries. Products in the Arjowiggins Creative Papers portfolio continually achieve best-in-category performance for paper capability and print performance and are globally available. Each range offers a high quality finish for a wide variety of applications. All of Arjowiggins Creative Papers’ brands have been FSC certified since June 2008, and the company is constantly expanding its recycled paper ranges. Arjowiggins Creative Papers has an unwavering commitment to work alongside both customers and suppliers to continue to innovate through their range of inspiring papers and in the way they do business. This is supported by The Blank Sheet Project, an inspirational platform that challenges us all to think creatively about how we will leave our mark in a way that is socially, economically and environmentally responsible. Details can be found at www.arjowigginscreativepapers.com and www.theblanksheetproject.com.

Arjowiggins Creative Papers is a member of AFELIM (French Association of Printed Electronics) as well as a member of the OE-A, the leading international industry association for organic and printed electronics which brings together more than 200 companies from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia to promote the establishment of a competitive production infrastructure for organic and printed electronics. The OE-A was founded in December 2004 and is a working group within the VDMA (German Engineering Federation). Details can be found at: www.oe-a.org

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