From 22 to 24 March 2022, the world’s leading trade fair for printed electronics will take place in Munich. The main topic this year will be Smart Living. VARTA, the German technology company from Ellwangen, will present the state of development and fields of application of printed batteries, as well as three pioneering research projects.
Printed electronics is one of the key technologies of the 21st century. As a technology leader in important areas of the battery industry, VARTA began researching and developing products in the field of printed batteries at an early stage.
Currently, the company is working on an innovation project: printed batteries with Ultra-thin Technology. The flexible ultra-thin batteries can make a difference in various markets such as smart living, smart medicine, smart sports and logistics 4.0.
VARTA will also be presenting its microbattery product portfolio for smart home applications such as sensors or security systems, medicine and IoT at LOPEC.
VARTA is also a partner in research and development projects.
OxiFlexIT
A monitor/oximetry patch is to be developed to individualise therapy for arteriosclerotic vascular diseases. It can be used both on an outpatient basis, during an intervention, operation or rehabilitation, and in the development of new fields of application. In the project of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, together with six other cooperation partners. VARTA AG is responsible for the electrochemistry and the battery system.
INNENERMAT
The project INNENERMAT will be focused on the development of novel active materials for competitive energy storage devices, batteries and supercapacitors, with a focus on the main components: active material, electrolyte and design of the device. It is planned to design structurally and chemically advanced functional carbon materials, smart textiles, metal oxides and hybrid materials to make a substantial advance in performance. Besides, through developing new polymers and gels, improvements in the electrolytes will also be considered.
Finally, due to the multidisciplinary consortium, it will be also possible to design flexible concepts for storage devices, with special emphasis in textile-based technologies. The participation of the industrial partners will allow to integrate easily all the new developments and to perform a proof-of-concept for different applications, allowing to reach TRL6 for flexible batteries and supercapacitors at the end of the project.
BEWELL – Printed Lithium-Ion Cell
The EU project BEWELL aims to monitor and promote the physical and emotional well-being of patients through wearable sensors. Wearable sensor technologies have been developed using printed electronics. The project focuses on smart skin patches and wristbands.
For the skin patches, the project focused on two objectives. The first objective was to develop a patch structure consisting of a low-cost disposable skin contact part and a durable electronics part that can be removed from the skin contact part and connected to a new part. This was achieved by developing an adhesive interlayer between the two parts.
The second goal in terms of wearability was to develop the outer layer of the patch to combine physical functionality with visual appeal and user feedback to make wearing the patch attractive. This was achieved through the use of functionalised decorative crystals.
VARTA at LOPEC 2022
LOPEC is the world’s leading trade fair and the most important congress for printed electronics. Year after year, it brings together leading players from application to research from all continents in the high-tech metropolis of Munich.
You will find the VARTA representation at stand B0.307.