Being flexible, easily foldable and recyclable, paper as substrate and functional part of portable, wireless, and/or disposable electronic devices is emerging as a promising approach to develop sustainable electronics contributing to reduce the electronic waste. INNPAPER is a use-case driven project aiming at providing a configurable common electronic platform based on multifunctional paper. To develop innovative paper manufacturing approaches, including (Nano)cellulose functionalization, to generate paper with tailor-made properties (e.g. (super)hydrophobicity/philicity, conductivity, etc) at surface and bulk level will be the first key challenge of the project. Based on this progress, a configurable common platform comprising a variety of paper-based devices (printed battery, electrochromic display, antenna and hybrid electronic circuit), where the paper will act as substrate and active component, will be developed. The common platform will be the basis for the subsequent manufacturing of a variety of use-cases covering different industrial sectors, in particular packaging and Point of Care (PoC) assays (security, food traceability, medical). The paper-based platforms will be manufactured in existing printing and hybrid manufacturing pilot-lines located at the partners facilities, providing not only a high impact paper-based electronics business case but also an open-access pilot line network to the EU after the project. An eco-design strategy including sustainability and re-use issues will be implemented. Exploitation and Business plan to ensure the profitable use of the pilot-lines in short and long term timescale and the commercialization of the resulting paper-based platforms will be elaborated. The accomplishment of the INNPAPER targets will support the EU industry in the emergence of internet of things, consolidating the paper making and wood-harvesting industries and positioning EU in the environmental management of electronic waste.

The DecoChrom project elevates printed graphics products to the age of interactivity, and empowers the creative industries with the tools and innovative advanced material sets to design and build aesthetically pleasing practical human interfaces to smart consumer goods and environments. The DecoChrom consortium develops printed electrochromics (EC) as the mass producible, print industry compatible, ultra low-power interactive graphics solution for ambient intelligence. DecoChrom will scale-up the production of advanced composite materials into 3 innovative ink EC colours, manufacturing process on different materials (plastic foil, paper, high-pressure laminates and 3D durable plastic parts), wide dissemination and creation of EC toolkits to introduce electrochromics to designers, makers and the printing industry, and finally the co-creation of more than 20 creative industry lead end-user prototypes and pilots for architecture, interior design, lifestyle and sports. The project brings together a strong interdisciplinary consortium of 15 partners, industry and research balanced, with state-of-the-art backgrounds in design, chemistry, printing, coatings and laminates, electronics system integration, and complete electrochromics solutions. This is complemented with the commitment of a multidisciplinary Industrial Advisory Board with representation of key industry end-users such as Ikea (furniture), Lego (toys), BMW (automotive), Fiskars (domestic tools), Hoffmann + Krippner (printed electronics, industrial printing) and GSB Wahl (ink production).

Ynvisible is a start-up company in Printed Electronics (PE) with the vision of bringing everyday objects and surfaces to life, making them more useful and enjoyable. In order to democratize access to revolutionary new PE technologies developed in Europe and North America, Ynvisible developed its first consumer product, Printoo. Printoo is a flexible, modular, electronics prototyping kit which allows anyone to create new interactive products using thin, flexible, PE components, including Ynvisible’s displays. The project was launched through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, which was hugely successful and received highly positive feedback from educators, tech enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, as well as wide media publicity highlighting the innovative nature and market potential for Printoo. The crowdfunding campaign allowed us to identify three main market segments: education, “maker” community and design & prototyping. Printoo is an essential prototyping platform for entrepreneurs and ‘makers’ looking to develop and prototype new intelligent products where flexibility and form-factor are essential requirements. Educators have demonstrated great interest in Printoo as a tool to develop creativity, design and do-it-yourself technical skills in students at any level of the learning curve. As an educational tool, Printoo can greatly contribute to European-wide initiatives such as the “eSkills for jobs 2014” initiative, in which Ynvisible is already enrolled as a partner. In addition, the commercialization and value chain creation impacts of Printoo will strongly contribute to European goals set out in the ICT 3 programme directed at TOLAE technologies. With this feasibility study, Ynvisible intends to undertake an in-depth analysis and market testing for Printoo, to better define the business models for each of the pre-identified target markets, as well as the global strategy to turn Printoo into a global success.

Investing in energy efficiency and saving is crucial to support energy accessibility and environmental protection, and it is the world’s best interest to share and implement forms of energy efficiency. This implies a stronger and effective transnational policy to promote and disseminate know-how about new technologies both at the market and R&D level. In this respect, development of projects centered on energy efficient technologies based on nanostructured organic materials certainly is a strategic field. The progresses in mastering organic matter by self-assembly and self-organization to form ordered soft-materials revolutionized the field opening new frontiers for both fundamental and applied research. However the route towards organic materials for application at the industrial scale is restricted by difficulties in the control and manipulation of the structural organization at the molecular level and its manifestation at higher scales. Motivated by the potential for significant energy savings, the INFUSION project aims to create a strongly interdisciplinary and inter-sectorial environment in which the principles of self-organization are poured from the Academia into the private sector and vice-versa to create new paradigms to engineer electrochromic devices. Through a detailed plan of 83 secondments, the project aims at cross-fertilize the electrochromic technology joining specific expertise to realize a bottom-up approach toward the design, preparation and characterization of self-organized organic materials (chromophores, CNSs, polymers...) at different interfaces (ITO, graphene) and exhibiting superior performances (optical, durability…). For the transfer of knowledge, the project combines the multidisciplinary expertise of 6 universities, 1 research institute, and 3 companies representing 4 EU and 2 TC countries (Pakistan and Argentina) in the field of organic chemistry, photochemistry, surface science, polymer and materials science, and device engineering.