INTRODUCTION

With the invention of the transistors in the early half of the nineteenth century, the field of electronics
has undergone innumerable changes that have had tremendous impact on the life of the common man.
The entire concept of electronics is based on the study of materials called semi-conductors. Silicon is
one such material that is widely used in the manufacturing of electronic circuits. However the use of
silicon has various disadvantages that have led researchers and scientists all over the world to look for
other alternatives. For long, it was believed plastics were materials with poor conductivity. However
researchers have proved that when plastics are combined with other substances in proper chemical
compositions they can behave as good conductors of electricity. This has led to the emergence of an
all-new field in which plastics or ‘conjugated polymers’ are exclusively used in the manufacture of
electronic products. This is the field of POLYTRONICS.

Conclusion and Future Scope

In today’s world of ever-expanding technology, Polytronics is going to change the whole world of
consumer electronics and form the principal root for the major advancement in the design of
electronic circuits and manufacture of printed circuit boards (PCB).The era of polymer electronics
has taken a great start and all the technological companies have turned their entire research
towards Polytronics. So I conclude that, in the forthcoming years Polytronics will accelerate the pace
of the technological advancements and describe a new dimension in the near future.

Silicon has largely influenced the Electronics industry and would continue to do so over a period of
time. However, technologists are now looking at other alternatives, mainly “PLASTIC CIRCUITS”, to
meet our future needs. Here is a look into how plastics would influence the world of electronics.

The study of usage of polymeric materials in electronics is termed as “POLYTRONICS”.This

polytronics has some advantages over silicon technology. They are

1. Easy Manufacturability (mass production).

2. Low cost.

3. They can be recycled and reused

(decreases environmental stress).

4. Consumes less power.

5. They are mobile, small, and light in weight.

6. They are used to make display devices that have extraordinary picture quality.

The feasibility of developing entire electronic components on basis of polymers is met by “INKJET
PRINTING TECHNOLOGY”
Inkjet Printing Technology
The huge cost of manufacturing Silicon microchip is due to the large complex processes involved.
Photolithographic techniques are used to pattern wafers with microcircuit, which is grown in powerful
vacuum, while the wafers are baked at temperatures of several hundred centigrades.The INKJET
PRINTING TECHNOLOGY provides continuous production line of plastic circuits on plastic
substrates and then cut into individual units. The substrates are made of acetate material that is as
transparent as vugraph sheets.This printing technology plays a major role in the development of “flat
screen” displays

Plastic Batteries
Plastic batteries are new type of low power batteries that do not require a case and are thin enough
to be printed on a paper. They are of low cost and can be mass produced as the battery material is
roughly 0.5 millimeters thick.
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/plastic-electronics-a-neat-solution

https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/75627

https://engineering.stanford.edu/search/content?search_api_views_fulltext=plastic%20electronics

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1468594/

A breakthrough in the development of a new generation

of plastic electronic circuits by researchers at the
Cavendish Laboratory brings flexible and transparent
intelligent materials – such as artificial skin and
interactive playing cards - a step closer.

Plastic electronics: a neat solution

The sense of touch is something we take for granted. The sensitive nerves in our finger tips generate
a flow of information to our brains that enables us to do things that require extraordinary precision.

Artificial skin with the ability to process information – such as texture and temperature - has long
been the holy grail of researchers working on the next generation of electronics. Artificial skin, which
has potential in areas such as robotics, and other products are now within our grasp as the result of
recent research into the exciting field of plastic electronics.

Initially discovered in the late 1970s, plastic electronics is an expanding technology that is bringing us
a myriad of products incorporating flexible and transparent electronic circuits in which the active
materials are deposited as printable inks onto polymer-based substrates using various printing
technologies.
Rather than relying on conventional, rigid and brittle silicon chips to process information, plastic
technology relies on novel organic materials which can be printed, just as coloured inks can be printed
on paper.