David Savastano, Editor01.13.10
The potential applications for printed electronics (PE) sometimes seem limited only by the imagination and the technology necessary to make these visions a reality. Creating ideal forms for new PE products is one of the challenges that limit PE’s growth.
For example, consider the possibility of creating heated cleaning wipes. The idea is simple enough: It is easier to clean using warm water than cold water. What, then, would happen if one could create a wipe that had a heating element, based on conductive carbon fibers?
For Kimberly-Clark (K-C), a leader in the field of nonwovens, whose brands range the gamut from Scott and Kleenex to Huggies and Depend, this is one of the potential applications for its conductive nonwovens (cNonwovens) technology, a patent pending system that utilizes conductive carbon fibers within nonwovens. cNonwovens are a low-cost conductive nonwoven materials created by co-forming chopped carbon fibers with cellulose or synthetic material.
According to Thomas Ales, research scientist – product development/R&E for Kimberly-Clark, the cNonwoven fiber width is 0.0002-0.0004 inches (5 -10 μm) in diameter, and fiber length is 3 mm chopped.
Mike Gross, senior licensing associate for Kimberly-Clark, said that cNonwovens is an area that K-C began investigating nearly five years ago for one of its own products, but realized that the technology could be utilized for a host of other applications.
“Originally we developed conductive materials for one of our personal care products,” said Gross. “The inventors realized that the conductive nonwovens technology could have a variety of applications in non-Kimberly-Clark products.
“The carbon fiber creates the conductivity, and the more fiber, the better conductivity,” Gross added. “Our manufacturing partner had good success running the initial products, and we found that it is also a lower cost option than other traditional low-cost conductor options. Our interest is licensing this technology to companies that can incorporate it into their products.”
Ales noted that conductor cost, processing speed and safety are all critical factors in consumer applications. “We need commodity materials,” he said. As a result, K-C is looking to strike a balance between performance and cost, and by eliminating the inlay or carrier sheet, price could be reduced by nearly 30 percent for RFID tags.
The cNonwovens technology could be used in a wide variety of applications.
“We have applied for patents on cNonwovens for specific applications,” Gross added. “For example, it could be applied to personal care products. It can be used for cleaning wipes where the cleaning pad can be heated, which improves the wipe’s cleaning effectiveness. The heating capability could also be used to make plug-in type air fresheners. It could be use for a simple dipole antenna for RFID labels. It is flexible, and can be built into layers for low-cost disposable keypads. “
Heating pads are another area of potential use for cNonwovens technology.
“cNonwovens could also be used for thermal therapy, using a heated pad that is battery operated, where you can control the temperature and turn it on or off,” Gross said. “cNonwovens can be placed within the wrap, and would offer limited reuse. And, the battery could be rechargeable.”
Gross said that K-C has been showcasing its cNonwovens products at a variety of conferences, and there is growing interest in its potential.
“We currently have two dozen companies evaluating our conductive fibers,” Gross noted. “We think it is a very promising technology, and are looking to be able to license it into a number of different fields.”
For Kimberly-Clark (K-C), a leader in the field of nonwovens, whose brands range the gamut from Scott and Kleenex to Huggies and Depend, this is one of the potential applications for its conductive nonwovens (cNonwovens) technology, a patent pending system that utilizes conductive carbon fibers within nonwovens. cNonwovens are a low-cost conductive nonwoven materials created by co-forming chopped carbon fibers with cellulose or synthetic material.
According to Thomas Ales, research scientist – product development/R&E for Kimberly-Clark, the cNonwoven fiber width is 0.0002-0.0004 inches (5 -10 μm) in diameter, and fiber length is 3 mm chopped.
Mike Gross, senior licensing associate for Kimberly-Clark, said that cNonwovens is an area that K-C began investigating nearly five years ago for one of its own products, but realized that the technology could be utilized for a host of other applications.
“Originally we developed conductive materials for one of our personal care products,” said Gross. “The inventors realized that the conductive nonwovens technology could have a variety of applications in non-Kimberly-Clark products.
“The carbon fiber creates the conductivity, and the more fiber, the better conductivity,” Gross added. “Our manufacturing partner had good success running the initial products, and we found that it is also a lower cost option than other traditional low-cost conductor options. Our interest is licensing this technology to companies that can incorporate it into their products.”
Ales noted that conductor cost, processing speed and safety are all critical factors in consumer applications. “We need commodity materials,” he said. As a result, K-C is looking to strike a balance between performance and cost, and by eliminating the inlay or carrier sheet, price could be reduced by nearly 30 percent for RFID tags.
The cNonwovens technology could be used in a wide variety of applications.
“We have applied for patents on cNonwovens for specific applications,” Gross added. “For example, it could be applied to personal care products. It can be used for cleaning wipes where the cleaning pad can be heated, which improves the wipe’s cleaning effectiveness. The heating capability could also be used to make plug-in type air fresheners. It could be use for a simple dipole antenna for RFID labels. It is flexible, and can be built into layers for low-cost disposable keypads. “
Heating pads are another area of potential use for cNonwovens technology.
“cNonwovens could also be used for thermal therapy, using a heated pad that is battery operated, where you can control the temperature and turn it on or off,” Gross said. “cNonwovens can be placed within the wrap, and would offer limited reuse. And, the battery could be rechargeable.”
Gross said that K-C has been showcasing its cNonwovens products at a variety of conferences, and there is growing interest in its potential.
“We currently have two dozen companies evaluating our conductive fibers,” Gross noted. “We think it is a very promising technology, and are looking to be able to license it into a number of different fields.”