Functional Inks and Coatings

Henkel offers a wide range of ink and coating material solutions across many industries

Henkel's broad portfolio of functional inks and coatings serves multiple markets including IoT, consumer electronics, medical & hygiene, automotive, furniture and building. Manufacturers today are increasingly seeking high-quality ink and coating materials to help produce products that are smaller, lighter, and more technologically advanced. Henkel’s LOCTITE^® brand of functional inks and coatings enable a new level of connectivity for medical solutions, in-home conveniences, consumer electronics, and advanced automotive systems that are reliable and effective. Our line of material solutions include conductive inks, dielectric inks, resistive inks, and electrode inks as well as several different ink products that are tailored to specific manufacturing needs.

Like most things in electronics, the majority of applications that incorporate printed electronics are getting smaller in dimension and more complex in functionality. Henkel’s ability to formulate inks that address the demands of fine line printing, while maintaining robust conductive and other functional properties sets us apart from the competition and has led to technology innovation within our comprehensive portfolio of inks for printed electronics. In order to meet the desired application requirements, our dedicated Printed Electronics Team offers support through the product selection process for printed electronics materials.

Ink and Coating Applications

As consumers demand smaller and less expensive products, manufacturers for electronic applications must incorporate high-volume, low-cost solutions. Printing is one of the most cost-effective production methods for certain applications. Therefore, printed electronics technology is an additive technology to traditional electronics which helps to address this high throughput, reduced cost scenario. Taking a total solutions approach, Henkel has developed ink sets that work together to provide customers completed systems with the functionality and environmental robustness for today’s demanding applications. The primary benefits of printed electronics has to do with thin, flexible, and lightweight construction that allows for new and improved products that were not previously possible.

Our functional inks and coatings have been used by a wide range of manufacturers in many different industries to help them develop the cutting-edge technologies we rely on. For instance, using inks to print sensors has been a proven method of electronics printing for some time. Inks for printing sensors and resistors vary widely in resistance values and compositions and are used for a variety of applications such as seat sensors for airbag deployment as well as potentiometers for the automotive and consumer markets.

The technological advances in the medical field have seen an increasing demand for printed electronic materials that required high-quality inks suitable for different applications. This most prominently involves the production of biosensors and EKG/ECG electronics as well as stimulation pads. Electronics manufacturing also demands a wide variety of ink used for the production of print circuit boards, touchscreens, different household appliances, and lighting. The automotive industry has also become increasingly reliant for printed inks for its electronic systems within the vehicle itself as well as for PTC heating elements.

Ink and Coating Product Types

Henkel is an industry-leading manufacturer of high-quality inks and coatings that are suited for a wide range of applications. Our ink and coating product range includes numerous different inks built around four broad categories:

Conductive Inks
Dielectric Inks
Electrode Inks
Resistive Inks

Henkel also offer functional ink formulations which are flexible, stretchable, and formable, depending on the desired application. Altogether our portfolio comprises conductive silver, silver/chloride and carbon inks, stretchable inks, and PTC inks as well as ECG electrode material and biosensor ink. These inks are designed for screen printing, flexographic printing, and other specialized printing applications.

Electrically conductive inks are essential for manufacturing a wide variety of electronic products since these inks conduct electrical currents. Henkel has been at the forefront of developing new conductive ink technology, especially conductive inks for printed electronics, for more than 35 years. This includes screen printable conductive ink for in-mold applications as well as flexible conductive ink that is making the production of new electronic devices possible. Henkel has also become a leading conductive ink supplier of silver chloride ink for printed electronic applications. Silver is the most electrically and thermally conductive of all metals and is used as the basis for many of Henkel’s silver conductive ink products. When combined with specific resin systems, our silver conductive inks can deliver better flexibility, increase resistance, and improve longevity.

Carbon inks typically complement conductive silver inks, providing lubricity, protection of the silver surface, and prevention of silver migration. When functional resistance is required, carbon inks offer excellent performance. Henkel's portfolio includes products for a variety of plastic and paper substrates, membrane switches, and rigid printed circuit boards.

One of the largest and most diverse areas for electrically conductive ink use is flex circuitry. The ability to easily construct circuits or change form factor through printing makes flex circuitry an ideal application for conductive inks. We offer a wide selection of inks formulated for specific applications, cure requirements, and substrates. Some of the latest ink technologies incorporate new functionality such as thermal forming capabilities and ink sets designed to measure forces applied to them.

Electrode inks are based on silver/silver chloride and are essential for producing countless medical products that include biosensors, drug delivery systems, and other medical devices. These inks are specially formulated for medical uses that keep human comfort in mind regarding interactions with medical gels and other chemicals. Henkel’s advanced inks are making modern medical devices possible by helping manufacturers create better quality and more effective medical products. This includes biosensor ink and ECG electrode materials for medical monitoring systems.

Dielectric inks are designed for printing dielectric layers, conformal coatings, and encapsulations. Dielectric ink for printed electronic applications are important for manufacturing touchscreens and other electronic devices across various industries. Non-conductive, dielectric inks insulate multilayer circuitry to allow for circuitry crossover and multilayer applications. These materials offer excellent flexibility, humidity resistance, and additional protection for improved strength and performance for multiple applications including keyboards, copper-etched circuitry, and hybrid circuits.

Resistive inks are based on blends of silver, carbon, and non-conductive pigments to adjust resistance levels for printed resistors, potentiometers, and heating elements. These inks are needed for many electronic applications that require resistive ink qualities. This includes various automotive electronic applications that includes PTC ink for manufacturing PTC heating systems. Henkel offers several different formulations of resistive inks, which are screen printable, including carbon resistive inks.

Printing Technique Applications:

Based on your desired speed of production and product functionalities, different types of printing techniques are required for printed electronics production. Henkel’s functional inks and coatings are suitable for diverse application processes such as flexographic and gravure printing as well as screen printing. In order to help facilitate the numerous Henkel’s functional inks are suitable for different application techniques such as spraying, dipping, or brushing.

Flexographic printing inks are important for the creation of packaging and other paper-based products other markets such as the automotive, hygiene, and medical fields. Flexo and gravure printing technologies in particular have seen many advances in ink development, process changes, and press designs. Over the last ten years, these techniques have advanced high-speed printing capabilities for printed electronics and circuitry. Developments range from changes in flexo plate designs and materials to improved anilox designs, drying capabilities, and the press platforms themselves. With continuous roll to roll processing, newer flexo machines are capable of running at speeds that cannot be matched with current flatbed printing. Henkel has developed a line of inks that can be effectively processed, deposited, and cured at the thicknesses needed for today’s functional inks.

Screen printing is a popular application method for printed electronics since it allows for faster production speed combined with high coating thicknesses. This includes the use of various conductive, dielectric, and resistive inks to produce essential component parts for a variety of industries. Due to increase in demand, Henkel offers a several screen printing materials that are tailored for a diverse set of applications in the medical, consumer electronics, and automotive manufacturing fields.