Johanna Zikulnig

• Master of Science
• Scientist at SAL Silicon Austria Labs

A printed hybrid sensor tag for applications in disposable healthcare and environmental monitoring optimized toward sustainability is presented. Following a systematic Life Cycle Assessment according to ISO 14040:2006 guidelines, the global warming potential associated with various substrate-, electrode-, and sensing materials, as well as manufactu...

The performance of electret filters, widely used in various air filtration systems, can degrade over time due to environmental factors such as humidity and elevated temperatures. This study introduces a compact electric field sensor designed for quasi‐continuous monitoring of electret filter performance. The sensor measures the electric field stren...

Addressing the environmental impact of electronic waste in biomedical sensing, an eco-conscious approach to the realization of a Chitosan-based Acetone sensor tag for wireless gas monitoring is presented. The fabrication involves inkjet printing of silver electrodes and antennas on a bio-based, biocompatible, and biodegradable Polylactic Acid foil...

This article introduces a methodology to increase the integration density of functional electronic features on fibers/threads/wires through additive deposition of functional materials via printed electronics. It opens the possibility to create a multifunctional intelligent system on a single fiber/thread/wire while combining the advantages of exist...

The detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as acetone is critical in clinical diagnostics and environmental monitoring. Acetone is a key biomarker for several medical conditions, most notably diabetes, and widely used as an industrial solvent, present in many household products, which can lead to environmental exposure. In this study,...

The development and characterization of resistive humidity sensors based on Chitosan on a glass substrate is reported. The sensor electrodes are made of laser-induced graphene derived from Chitosan, which represents a sustainability advancement by eliminating the need for adding additional materials during fabrication. Depending on the sensor desig...

This article presents a fully printed paper-based humidity sensor for structural health monitoring of natural fiber composites. The uncoated paper substrate represents 95.6 % of the sensor’s mass, making it mostly biodegradable. The sensor measures 73 x 50 mm and consists of a capacitive part that is sensitive to moisture and a printed planar anten...

This paper presents a fully printed wireless sensor tag for structural health monitoring of smart lightweight construction parts. The sensor concept aims for sustainability and was developed in line with the European Green Deal, fabricated by inkjet printing on uncoated paper substrate, working without the use of a battery or a chip. Measurement re...

Multifunctional Biface Sensor Tag In article number 2200027, Lukas Rauter and co‐workers show that the fastest‐growing waste stream in the world is electronic waste. The number of sensors deployed increases rapidly, which raises the urgent demand for sustainable sensor solutions. Addressing this challenge, Silicon Austria Labs present a Multifuncti...

Requirements for the miniaturization of electronics are constantly increasing as more and more functions are aimed to be integrated into a single device. At the same time, there are strong demands for low‐cost manufacturing, environmental compatibility, rapid prototyping, and small‐scale productions due to fierce competition, policies, rapid techni...

Pressure sensors are among the most widely used devices to collect quantitative feedback during physical interactions of mechanical systems, especially in robotics. In this work, we demonstrate flexible interdigitated capacitive pressure sensors using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as pressure sensitive layer. Furthermore, we investigate the possibili...

In this article, a sustainable, multifunctional, low‐cost, wireless sensor tag is presented. The sensor tag combines three different environmental sensors in one single platform for the dedicated purpose of wireless structural health monitoring of a variety of applications. However, the adaptive design allows the integration of different sensors de...

Humidity is one of the most relevant physical parameters to sense and control for a wide range of commercial and industrial applications. Consequently, there is continuing demand for the development of innovative and sustainable humidity sensor solutions. Here, the development and characterization of fully additively manufactured, highly sensitive,...

Renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) technologies are considered to be key drivers towards climate neutrality. Thin-film PVs, and particularly copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) technologies, will play a crucial role in the turnaround in energy policy due to their high efficiencies, high product flexibility, light weight, easy inst...

In a unique approach to develop a “green” solution for in-situ monitoring, low-cost inkjet-printed temperature sensors on paper substrate were fully integrated into natural fiber-reinforcedlightweight components for which structural health monitoring is becoming increasingly impor-tant. The results showed that the sensors remained functional after...

In a unique approach to develop a “green” solution for in-situ monitoring, low-cost inkjet-printed temperature sensors on paper substrate were fully integrated into natural fiber-reinforced lightweight components for which structural health monitoring is becoming increasingly important. The results showed that the sensors remained functional after...

Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells are a promising technology, but inline quality inspection systems are required for efficient high-volume production. Tests with two candidate methods: Raman spectroscopy and photo-luminescence imaging, are reported in this paper. The methods were used to estimate material compositions of C...

Printing technologies are a convenient enabler for the rapid and cost-efficient prototyping as well as for the manufacturing of flexible sensors, which can be integrated in different types of materials and wearables. At the same time printing is considered to have a low environmental impact, provided that sustainable materials are used. As part of...

The sensitivity of three different screen-printed highly stretchable liquid metal (Galinstan) sensors towards temperature and humidity as well as their electrical behavior under compressive load were studied. The sensors’ resistances show quasi linear dependence on changes in temperature without any hysteresis. Depending on the individual sensor de...

Thin film solar cells and in particular Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) cells have become increasingly relevant for the renewable energy market due to their high efficiencies, easy installation, high product flexibility, light weight and less labour intensiveness when compared to silicon solar cells. As for today, there are still challenges r...

Different conductive bonding strategies for the hybrid integration of flexible, inkjet-printed electronics are investigated. The focus of the present work lies on providing a practical guide comprising standard techniques that are inexpensive, easily implementable and frequently used. A sample set consisting of identical conductive test structures...

Fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) is an interesting platform for Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor packaging. Employing FOWLP for MEMS sensor packaging has some unique challenges, while some originate merely from the fabrication of redistribution layers (RDL). For instance, it is crucial to protect the delicate structures and fragile...

With the growing significance of printed sensors on the electronics market, new demands on quality and reproducibility have arisen. While most printing processes on standard substrates (e.g., Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) are well-defined, the printing on substrates with rather porous, fibrous and rough surfaces (e.g., uncoated paper) contains...

Resistive temperature sensors on two different commercially available uncoated paper substrates have been manufactured using inkjet printing of silver nanoparticles. Their dedication is to be integrated in lightweight materials made from natural fibre-reinforced biopolymers for condition monitoring during the manufacturing process and beyond. The p...

A method to combine additively manufactured substrates or foils and multilayer inkjet printing for the fabrication of sensor devices is presented. First, three substrates (acrylate, ceramics, and copper) are prepared. To determine the resulting material properties of these substrates, profilometer, contact angle, scanning electron microscope (SEM),...

A screen printed pH sensor was developed using a PANI layer as a proton sensitive material for the in-situ measurements of matrix cross-linking. The sensor showed a linear response in a broad pH range (3–10) and had an evident cross-talk to Cl− ions. Preliminary in-situ measurements showed a substantial signal change during the cross-linking proces...

Microclimatic conditions inside of the enclosures of photovoltaic (PV) inverters are suspected to have a tremendous impact on degradation and failure modes of the devices. To address this issue, a custom multi-channel data logger has been designed which is capable of continuously measuring temperature, relative humidity and wetness in confined spac...