| Paper Ideas Printers > Paper > Novel Paper | Navigation Icons Guide
|
Self Illuminating Paper. 
Kodak have filed a patent on self -illuminating paper that could be used for backlit conventional photographs or inkjet pages.
The backing sheet for the page is a 3-layer sandwich of a thin metallic sheet, coated with a white light phosphor and a transparent metal top film sealed at the outside and particualrly the edges with polymer glue.
A 100 volt AC source at very low current is sufficient to make the phosphor light.
Kodak has managed to make the paper thin enough to pass through a conventional inkjet printer and flexible enough to be used in a photo album.
Philips Electronic Paper.
New Scientist article 26th January 2004 "Most flexible electronic paper yet revealed" has Philips division Polymer Vision scaling up for production with e-ink on an organic circuit printed on a polyimide layer 25 microns thick. In front of this is a 200 micron layer containing capsules of electrostatic ink developed by E Ink. Electric fields in the organic circuit attract either the black or white side of the capsules. Philips has managed to produce a display measuring 12 centimetres diagonally with 80,000 pixels that can be rolled into a tube just 2 centimetres in diameter without damage. The image does have greyscale, but takes about a second to refresh making it too slow for moving images.
Siemens Printable Display.
Siemens demonstrated a prototype mono screen that can change between its two colours in half a second. The display has a layer of electrochromic material sandwiched between conductive electrodes forming a grid, with the top layer transparent. Pixels are turned on where there is a voltage across the grid. Siemens didn't disclose the electrochromic material but commonly used substances include polymers such as polyaniline.
The display can be powered by a photovoltaic cell or a thin printable battery and is thought simpler and cheaper to produce than other electronic paper devices (or LCDs).
Printable Battery.
New Scientist article 25th July 2001 on Power Paper. The battery is made of three different layers, a conventional zinc and manganese dioxide layer as anode and cathode and a secret formula as a chemical power source. The chemical is non toxic and non corrosive making it safe to use without casing. The battery can be made 0.5 millimetres thick and produces 20 milliamp-hours at 1.5 volts for every square centimetre printed. the battery can be cut to any size and shape to suit a product.
The article mentions:
John Irvine of the Centre for Advanced Materials at University of St Andrews, who says the battery would be of interest to electronics manufacturers.
Saad Khan of North Carolina State University who says a number of research groups are working on polymer battery materials but says most of these could not be described as entirely non-toxic.
Paper With Identity.
Hitachi Meu-chip RFID chips are kust 0.4 millimetres square - sufficiently small to be embedded in ordinary paper and not risk damage even if it is folded. The chip is RF powered and holds 128 bits of ROM. Suggested uses are authenication in bank notes and legal documents amongst other things. Hitachi belive that in mass manufacture the Meu chips will cost a few pennies each.