Aerosol printing on 3D surfaces: Leibniz Start-up Award for SONOJET

The Dresden-based start-up SONOJET from the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research (IFW) is receiving the 2026 Leibniz Start-up Award for an aerosol printing solution aimed at printed electronics applications on complex 3D geometries. The prize, endowed with 50,000 euros, is intended to support the transition of the technology from the laboratory to industrial 3D printing environments.

At the heart of the approach is a newly developed aerosol printhead that is based on a chip-based, microacoustic source for aerosol generation. Unlike conventional systems, the process medium is converted directly in the head into a finely metered aerosol. The compact design enables easy integration into existing motion platforms and robotic systems that are already established in additive manufacturing. At the same time, the simplified system architecture reduces maintenance requirements and lowers the barriers to use in series production processes.

The printhead is designed for a broad range of functional inks, including conductive noble metal inks used in microelectronics and sensor applications. Thanks to the economical use of expensive materials, the process is suitable for the fabrication of conductor tracks, antenna structures and sensor arrays directly on component surfaces, housings or flexible substrates. Typical target sectors are consumer electronics, automotive engineering, medical technology and safety-critical applications.

SONOJET was founded as a limited liability company (GmbH) in May 2025 and plans to enter the market operationally in mid-2026. Until then, the project is supported by the “Exist Research Transfer” program as well as funding from the federal government, the State of Saxony and the German Research Foundation. According to the Leibniz Association, the prize money will be used, among other things, to finance trade fair appearances and marketing activities, while the team qualifies the printhead for series production and prepares a compact turnkey system for industrial 3D printing.