Companies / Markets

The Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP (Dresden, Germany) has been utilising electron-beam technology for decades in the development of cleaning, sterilisation, and surface-modification processes and systems. Fraunhofer researchers from the Medical and Biotechnological Applications division (MBA) now intend to develop a methodology that combines biotechnology processes with low-energy electron-beam technology. Moreover, this hybrid methodology will be combined with existing FEP expertise in the area of sensor technology. The anticipated research programme will be presented at the MedtecLIVE trade show in Nuremberg, Hall 10, Booth No. 10.0.513, taking place from 31 March – 2 April 2020.

Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) has recently become the first in the world to communicate wirelessly across the UHF (ultrahigh frequency) band with a printed semiconductor. This setup employs a printed radio-frequency identifier (RFID) that the company created. The RFID employs a high-performance semi-conductive carbon nanotube composite. Toray’s achievement demonstrated the potential for manufacturing UHF RFIDs by low-cost printing processes to dramatically streamline retail and logistics operations. Examples include automating cash registers and efficient inventory management. The company will accelerate development to commercialise printed RFIDs.