The research will create ultra-thin sensing labels by additive manufacture (printing) to offer wireless communication and energy harvesting to charge entirely integrated batteries. In order to achieve this, the research team will re-engineer antennas and batteries (the largest devices in wireless systems and which are inefficient when mounted close together) and create thin, flexible sensors which can be mounted on surfaces, and on-skin, to monitor polluting atmospheric vapours and allow for improved environmental control. Ultimately, the smart labels could be customised cheaply to sense different targets (for instance in medical monitoring) by overprinting with different sensing films. To achieve this and ensure the devices can be manufactured in large scale, the team, comprising of leading Wireless, Battery Formulation, and Digital Manufacturing researchers, will combine with CPI, the UK National Catapult for Printed Electrics.
EPSRC research grant awarded for thin batteries in wireless sensing labels
Congratulations to Principal Investigator, Professor John Batchelor from the School of Engineering and Digital Arts, in collaboration with Dr Maria Alfredsson from the School of Physical Sciences, and Professor Stephen Yeates at the Manchester School of Chemistry upon the award of a £1.3m EPSRC grant entitled: Formulating and Manufacturing Low Profile Integrated Batteries for Wireless Sensing Labels which seeks to create wireless sensors unlike existing electronics. .