Mitsubishi Electric has invested in Elephantech, a start-up using metal inkjet printing to mass produce printed circuit boards.
Elephantech, which is based in Tokyo, uses its metal inkjet printing and copper plating technologies to manufacture and sell its P-Flex flexible printed circuit boards (PCB). The company says its “Pure Additive” manufacturing technology has a lower environmental impact than conventional manufacturing methods. The conventional method is a subtractive method in which copper foil is first laminated entirely on the substrate and then removed where unnecessary to form a circuit. This method however requires a large amount of water. In contrast, Elephantech’s metal inkjet printing technology allows metal to be printed on a substrate only where necessary.
