“We are ready to move forward,” summarises Stan Farnsworth, chair of the OE-A board and chief marketing officer of NovaCentrix, characterising the results of the latest OE-A Business Climate Survey. After a difficult period in 2020 the flexible and printed electronics industry is recovering from the effects of the pandemic. The vast majority of the survey participants expect the printed electronics industry to grow in 2021. The semi-annual business climate survey by OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association), a working group within VDMA, sheds light on the anticipated growth of the organic and printed electronics industry. During each survey, OE-A members – from material suppliers to end users – are asked to provide qualitative data on the state of the industry and their expected sales development.
Grapheal (Grenoble, France) is a Graphene Flagship associate member with experience creating pioneering graphene-based wearable patches for the remote monitoring of chronic wounds. Now, they have raised €1.9M in seed financing from Belgian incubator Novalis Biotech and private investors to further develop this technology, as well as to advance the creation of a digital, high-speed test for COVID-19. Thanks to the high sensitivity of graphene, this novel device would improve screening activities in high traffic areas, such as airports.
Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a “wearable microgrid” that harvests and stores energy from the human body to power small electronics. It consists of three main parts: sweat-powered biofuel cells, motion-powered devices called triboelectric generators, and energy-storing supercapacitors. All parts are flexible, washable and can be screen printed onto clothing.
