CINNO Research industry information, according to the Japanese media Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan Tuozhida Wire Co., Ltd. cooperates with Israel’s Copprint Technologies Ltd. to develop copper nano ink that can easily print circuit boards. According to the previous method, the printed circuit needs to be pressurized and sintered in special gases such as hydrogen. However, the circuit printed with the copper nano ink developed in this research only needs to be heated at low temperature in a normal atmospheric environment, which can greatly reduce the investment burden on circuit board manufacturers. Tuozida plans to put into production this year and provide it to Asian customers such as Japan.
Japan’s Tuozida Electric Wire Co., Ltd. collaborates with Israel’s Copprint Technologies Ltd. to produce copper nanoink locally in Japan. The above picture shows the experimental equipment located in Israel Copprint Technologies Ltd. (picture from Nihon Keizai Shimbun)
The production process of printed circuit boards usually includes exposure, development, etching, and electroplating, all of which require a large amount of water, electricity, and chemicals to be consumed. The use of copper nanoink printing circuits can achieve significant results in terms of cost and environmental protection. This research and development achievement is expected to bring revolutionary changes to the production method of circuit boards.
Copprint Technologies Ltd. is an Israeli start-up company that invested in Tuzda in 2020 and jointly achieved the research and development results based on the company’s copper nanoink. After the cooperation, both parties have been committed to developing and improving ink that is easy for circuit board manufacturers to use. Due to the promising market development prospects, Tuozida has made additional investments in Copprint Technologies Ltd. in the form of convertible equity. The investment amount and convertible share capital amount have not been disclosed.
Copper nanoink is composed of copper particles at the nanoscale (one nanometer is one billionth of a meter). Generally, after printing electronic circuits, particles are bonded together through sintering. Therefore, the circuit printed with traditional copper nanoink must be heated at a high temperature of 400-500 degrees Celsius for less than one minute. The copper nanoink printing circuit developed this time only needs to be sintered in an environment below 200 degrees Celsius for less than one minute. Therefore, ordinary paper can also be used as a printing substrate.
Tuozida plans to introduce new equipment into a factory located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. After the crop movement, the initial monthly production capacity is about 2 tons, and it is planned to triple the production capacity by 2030. At the same time, the production plan is scheduled to take place simultaneously in Kyoto, Japan, and Copprint Technologies Ltd.’s “headquarters” – Israel. In terms of sales, Copprint Technologies Ltd. is responsible for the European and American regions, while Tuozida is responsible for the Asian region, including Japan.
Tuozida’s Shield Film for directional electromagnetic waves on smartphones holds nearly 80% of the global market share. Due to the fact that its performance is easily affected by the production trends of smartphones, Tuozida is exploring new sources of profit after exploring relay magnetic wave shielding films. It is reported that in June this year, Tuozida will acquire JX Metals under ENEOS Holdings through the form of Take Over Bid (TOB).