Xerox's Fabric-Printable Circuitry Coming to Production, Heralds Electronic Clothing

By Stuart Fox Posted 10.27.2009 at 9:50 am 8 Comments

Printable Circuitry Xerox, via Cnet

If you're like me, the lack of computing power in your T-shirt causes constant problems. Well, thanks to the guys over at Xerox, you'll never have to worry about a jacket that can't run Windows 7 ever again. The company has just announced a new process for creating an ink that doubles as a circuit, paving the way for ubiquitous computing through printable electronics.

To create the circuits, Xerox uses an ink containing signal-conducting silver. Previous attempts at using liquid silver to print circuits failed because the ink required high heat to keep the metal liquid. That heat melted weaker substrates like plastic, and made the ink incompatible with existing technology. This new ink, however, can print circuits at room temperature from currently available inkjet printers.

Xerox is already making the ink available to third-party developers, and it will be widely available once they begin making the ink in bulk. The near-term uses focus on printing RFID tags and smart paper, but since the ink can print onto nearly any surface, the applications are nearly limitless. A 150 GB necktie, anyone?

[via Cnet]

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8 Comments

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fb36

10/27/09 at 12:27 pm

Imagine you download a circuit diagram for a new processor or extra memory etc. and just print it and connect it to your PC!

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pyro62792

10/27/09 at 1:48 pm

of course the question is would you have to scan for the information stored on the paper.

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pyro62792

10/27/09 at 1:49 pm

and how would one hook the paper up to your computer

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fb36

10/27/09 at 9:28 pm

A circuit on paper could be connected to computer using a special cable w/ one end USB and the other w/ a specially designed sticker-like USB cable connector. It should not be any hard.

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extremechiton

10/27/09 at 9:38 pm

paper that can be used as solar panels...if possible.

if we can add pixels to make a screen on the technology, we can make animated signs and logos, and other fun stuff.

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Thursday

10/28/09 at 8:33 am

@fb36
if you were to print a new processor, then they would have this stuff regulated, like you couldnt get the design unless you wanted to pay the same amount, but maybe they could make much bigger and more powerful processors by putting a bunch of pieces of paper together. can anybody say 10ghz?

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Dustin2127

11/02/09 at 10:23 pm

Aside from the hilarious full circle deal (punch cards-paper processors) whoo! another way the gov't can track us! chalk one up for big brother!

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riod121

11/03/09 at 9:00 am

extremechiton
10/27/09 at 9:38 pm
paper that can be used as solar panels...if possible.
if we can add pixels to make a screen on the technology, we can make animated signs and logos, and other fun stuff.
=========>> Honestly, they already have the printable solar panels. A guy invented the printable solar powder almost 2 years ago, i am surprised there hasn't been much on that since then.