Yissum, Vaxan collaborate on printed electronics ink

Hebrew University strengthens ties with Korean industry.

By GLOBES CORRESPONDENT
Yissum Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Korean innovative printing company Vaxan Steel Co. Ltd., signed a licensing and research agreement for the development of silver nanoparticles and silver-coated copper nanoparticles for conductive inks.
“We are proud that the Hebrew University has had the opportunity to take part in this collaboration, and hope to strengthen our ties with the Korean industry in the future,” said Yissum CEO Yaacov Michlin.
These inks can be utilized in a variety of printing technologies, including inkjet printing. According to the terms of the agreement, Yissum grants Vaxan a license to commercialize the technology exclusively in Asia, excluding Israel and former Soviet Union countries, and will receive in return research fees and royalties from future sales. The novel conductive inks were invented by Professor Shlomo Magdassi, Dr. Alexander Kamyshny and Michael Grouchko from the Institute of Chemistry at the Hebrew University. The collaboration is in the field of printed electronics providing the ability to print electric circuits on almost any surface, including paper, plastic, silicon and ceramics. Printed electronics can be used in applications such as displays and thin-film photovoltaics, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, OLED lighting, and sensors. Until recently printing for the electronics industry has been carried out by lithography and screen printing technologies, which are time consuming and expensive. The trend now is to use digital printing. The preferred technology is inkjet printing.