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The recent advancements made in printed, flexible and structural electronics have opened up new application possibilities that cut across various industry segments, namely consumer electronics, lighting, healthcare, automotive, packaging and domestic appliances. Previously unrealizable form factors and lightweight structures are now possible, thanks to the flexibility, stretchability and thinness of the electronic devices that can now be fabricated on polymer films. To fully realize and exploit the enormous potential of these emerging technologies, and to make electronics truly ubiquitous, it is important for materials suppliers to deliver customized solutions, not just materials, that facilitate downstream activities by system integrators and OEMs/ODMs. SABIC fully understands this need and has positioned itself as a solutions provider for these industries.

In this paper, we present our key developments in the printed, flexible and structural electronics domains. Working closely with our customers and validation partners from various industrial segments, we are developing, among others, advanced functional substrates for packaging and wearables applications; thermoformable transparent conducting film for display and touch applications; and thermoformable hard-coated films for in-mold electronics applications. We will explain how our differentiated film solutions are well positioned to address the current gaps as well as the emerging needs of the industry, and conclude the talk with application examples in the form of technology demonstrators.

Ashok Sridhar works as a senior scientist in a market-facing role at SABIC, focusing on printed and in-mold electronics. Previously, he worked as a research scientist at Holst Centre in the Netherlands, developing interconnection technologies for flexible electronics systems. He also had a brief post-doctoral stint at the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems in Germany.

Sridhar received his Ph.D. degree in 2010 from the University of Twente in the Netherlands, for a dissertation on inkjet printing of conductive structures. He received a Master's Degree in production technology in 2005 from the Aachen University of Technology in Germany and a Bachelor's Degree in mechanical engineering in 2001 from the University of Madras in India.

Sridhar has authored and co-authored several publications, mostly dealing with printed electronics.

SABIC's Innovative Plastics business is a leading, global supplier of engineering thermoplastics. The company leads the plastics industry with customer collaboration and continued investments in new polymer technologies, global application development, process technologies, and environmentally responsible solutions that serve diverse markets such as healthcare, transportation, automotive, electrical, lighting and consumer electronics.