A professor from Simon Fraser University is advancing towards a “sustainable, intelligent world” by championing printable sensor technologies. Vincenzo Pecunia, from SFU’s School of Sustainable Energy Engineering, has led a team comprising over a hundred experts from fifty-seven research institutions globally in crafting a comprehensive roadmap for the future of printable sensor technologies. These innovations hold the potential to transform everyday objects and environments by imbuing them with sensing capabilities, marking a significant step forward in promoting sustainability and enhancing our quality of life.
Sensors, by providing real-time data about our surroundings, can assist individuals in making more informed decisions regarding resource use and improving homes, cities, the environment, security, healthcare, and beyond. “There are indeed myriad ways in which sensors can simplify our lives and make them more sustainable,” notes Pecunia, the lead author of the recently published ‘Roadmap on Printable Electronic Materials for Next-Generation Sensors’. “Consider, for example, sensors that could ensure safer medical examinations and targeted healthcare, increase agricultural yields, reduce food wastage through precise spoilage detection, or identify wildfires early enough to avert their devastating effects.”
In this roadmap, Pecunia and his international network of collaborators examine the present and future states of forty-five printable sensor technologies that respond to various stimuli, such as light, radiation, force, temperature, gases, chemicals, and biological substances.
Pecunia’s team has made significant research contributions, particularly in developing printable optical sensors that could be applied across numerous sustainability-oriented fields. The realisation of these applications depends on deploying sensors in large quantities to create a critical mass of data, necessitating the development of easy-to-manufacture, cost-effective sensor technologies. “Sensors crafted from printable materials are an ideal solution, as they can be produced from inks using straightforward methods like printing and coating at room temperature, requiring minimal energy,” Pecunia explains.
In contrast, the sensors commonly utilised today are often produced using costly technologies with a significant carbon footprint, sometimes necessitating temperatures above 1,000°C for their manufacture. Pecunia highlights that the expense and environmental impact of traditional sensors restrict their widespread distribution in the numbers needed to effect a large-scale difference.
He advocates for the creation of local manufacturing capabilities for printable sensors, which could enable their diverse applications to benefit local communities and sidestep the slow, complex supply chain associated with traditional electronics, thereby supporting local clean-tech and high-tech industries.
Although printable sensor technologies are promising, Pecunia believes advancing research in this field is crucial to overcoming remaining challenges and fully realising their potential. “Through our roadmap, our ultimate aim is to spur further research breakthroughs in printable sensor technology, moving us closer to a green sensor revolution for the benefit of everyone,” he states.
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