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Printed Heaters are simple warming elements that are screen printed on flexible materials.
PTC stands for Positive Temperature Coefficient, a property of certain materials where electrical resistance increases with rising temperature. PTC films are made using materials with this characteristic, and the inks used to create them are known as PTC inks.
These films are typically used as heating elements, mainly providing infrared radiation to their surroundings—commonly referred to as PTC heating films. Unlike conventional heating elements with constant resistance, PTC heating films have the unique ability to self-regulate temperature by adjusting their heating power based on changes in electrical resistance as the temperature varies.
This self-regulation effect is fundamentally based on Ohm's Law.
The heating PTC film functions as an intelligent heating element, with its initial resistivity (R₀) expressed in ohms per square. Depending on the application, the effective electrical resistance (W) of the heating element can be tailored by arranging these squares in a specific pattern.
As illustrated in the figure, the total heating power is determined by the formula: P = N × (V² / R₀)
Where P is the total heating power, N is the number of squares, V is the voltage applied to the PTC film, and R₀ is the initial resistivity of the PTC film.
By adjusting any of these parameters, the heating output can be easily controlled. Our proprietary PTC film is optimized to have a resistivity of approximately 100 Ω/sq. Therefore, each square—regardless of its physical size—acts as a 100-ohm resistor, and the heating power simplifies to:P = N × (V² / 100)
