The UK-based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has recently welcomed confirmation of a £107M government funding package to help develop technologies for next generation manufacturing. The commitment, announced during a cabinet visit to the North-East, covers a five-year period and will allow CPI to continue its extensive track-record of helping industry bridge the gap between innovation and commercialisation to bring new products and processes to market.
A lightweight, compact and efficient supercapacitor printed on a flexible plastic sheet has been developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Supercapacitors are devices that could one day replace batteries used in electric cars, cell phones or laptops, because they charge very quickly, and work at almost 100% efficiency. But they are usually bulky and can only store limited amounts of energy. Reducing their size without losing efficiency has proved challenging. Fabricating them using existing methods is also costly and complicated.
Ynvisible Interactive Inc. (Vancouver, Canada), a company that specialises in creating ultra-low power displays for printed electronics, has been granted an EU patent for a specialised electrolyte formulation that allows for the integration of electrochromic inks directly into the electrolyte layers. This formulation offers a reduction in the overall number of ink layers required to produce electrochromic devices, substantially increasing manufacturing efficiency.
