Future markets for 3D printed electronics Dr Jon Harrop Director, IDTechEx j.harrop@IDTechEx.com www.IDTechEx.com

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3D printing: price vs speed

Introduction 3D printed electronics (3DPE) combines two existing technologies: Printed Electronics 3D Printing 3DPE is not yet commercially significant with a tiny ≪$10M market size. 3DPE has the potential to revolutionise: The ~$100bn PCB industry. Educational/prototyping tools, e.g. the breadboard. The Maker community. Antennas. Heaters. Several companies will bring 3DPE products to market in 2015. IDTechEx are following the 3DPE market and trying to create a forecast.

Printed Electronics

Printed Electronics: materials Metallic ink Organic and inorganic semiconductors Dielectrics Carbon nanotubes and graphene Conductive polymers Glass, polymer, paper and steel substrates Flexible barrier films, adhesives, encapsulants Quantum dot materials

Printed Electronics: features Mass customisation Bendy Wearable Transparent Biocompatible and even edible Environmentally friendly Thin Large area Cheap substrates

Printed Electronics: today $9bn market in 2015 → $16bn in 2025 Conductive ink fingers on solar cells was 75% of the entire PE market. Now $2.4bn conductive inks and $6.5bn printed sensors (mainly glucose). Cost of silver recently dipped so the silver ink market also dipped. Lots of research on inket printed electronics but manufacturers use mostly screen printing and slot-die coating. Many equipment vendors seeing 80% of revenues from EU-funded R&D projects.

Printed electronics: the struggle Many giant corporations frustrated by common answers from the printed electronics industry:

3D Printing

3D printing: processes and materials Welding Selective laser sintering/melting Blown powder Extrusion Valve/Laser/Maglev Jetting/spraying Stereolithography/DLP Metal Thermoplastic Concrete Ceramics Biomaterials Binder (plaster/sand) Photopolymer

3D Printing: features Rapid prototyping Mass customisation Design freedom Biocompatible and even edible Low-cost manufacturing Manufacture on-demand in remote or hostile locations Material choices

3D Printing: broad spectrum Printer prices range from $300 to $1,500,000 Build volumes range from 0.001m3 to 8m3. Deposition rates range from 6mm3/s to 34,200mm3/s Precisions range from 5mm to 10μm. Material prices range from $5 to $330 per kg

3D Printing: today $2.5bn market in 2015 → $20bn in 2025 Three technologies dominate: Thermoplastic extrusion ($540M) Stereolithography ($614M) Selective Laser Sintering ($555M) Vendor lock-in materials keeping prices high. Mainly used by automotive, aerospace, consumer products, medical, dental, oil and gas, hobbyists, education and jewelry. Mainly used for prototyping, tooling and just now for large-scale production.

3D Printed Electronics

3D Printing Hype Cycle (2014) Expectations Dental Critical aerospace Architecture Home Sports Education Prototyping Bioprinting Non-critical aerospace Medical research Orthopaedics Clothing Jewelry Construction Military Electronics Technology Trigger Peak of Inflated Expectations Trough of Disillusionment Plateau of Productivity Slope of Enlightenment Time

Conductive filaments Still high resistance. Only suitable for: Static dissipation. Maybe sensors. Readily available but unable to solve any real problems.

Conductive inks Better conductivity Suitable for: Signalling Low power Can be UV curable => ideal for inkjetted photopolymers Took years to formulate reliable inks for printed electronics.

Potential applications Prototype PCBs Antennas Heaters

Competing tech: in-mold electronics Ford Motor Company used screen printed conductors on a plastic film formed into a 3D shape to replace the mechanical switches in overhead panels in cars. The capacitative switches kept tripping when they were not touched so Ford pulled it. The underlying technology is good and could provide switches for white goods in the future.

3D printed electronics forecast Over the next few years the most successful technologies will be the simple ones, i.e. laying down conducting and insulating materials. Companies that provide a complete product by moving down the value chain will succeed. The most successful applications will either be completely novel or improvements to components but not drop-in replacements. Platforms for 3D printed electronics will profit by facilitating the internet of things, wearable technologies and structural electronics. 3D printed electronics could well be a multi-billion dollar industry by 2025.

For more on 3D printing see… www.IDTechEx.com/research/3D

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