Environmentally Friendly, Proprietary Technologies

Technology and business model

We have succeeded in mass production by creating our unique manufacturing method, the Pure Additive™ method (forming circuits by heaping only the necessary number of necessary materials), which combines metal inkjet printing and electroless copper plating processes from the conventional manufacturing method (Subtractive method: layering materials and scraping off unnecessary materials). 

Elephantech's proprietary Pure Additive™ method is a unique manufacturing method, in which metal is nanosized into an ink state, printed on a substrate with an inkjet, and then the metal is grown with electroless copper plating to form a circuit.  

This technology requires fewer manufacturing processes than the conventional manufacturing method, and significantly reduces environmental impact and improves cost performance. Until now, the manufacturing of electronic circuit boards has involved an extremely long process of exposure, development, and etching after the formation of copper foil on the base material. This manufacturing method requires the removal of unneeded protective film and copper foil along the way, so to speak. In contrast, our manufacturing method is an "additive" manufacturing method in which metal is printed only in the necessary areas by inkjet and the thickness of the metal is increased by electroless copper plating, so there are no "discarded" areas. It is a manufacturing method for electronic circuit boards that reduces environmental impact and is currently being introduced by manufacturers of LCD monitors. 

Our metal inkjet printing technology is revolutionizing an area where new methods have not been created in the 100 years since conventional methods were created, providing a solution that reduces carbon footprint by 75%, water consumption by 95%, and significant savings of 70% in copper consumption. 

Reference URL

Features of the P-Flex® Flexible Circuits