Toward perdurable flexible electronics

Nanowerk  March 23, 20212 In wearable electronics, to acquire stability and simultaneously preserve stretchability, sensitivity, and scalability is of high significance yet challenging for practical device applications. Researchers in Japan developed a kirigami-structured graphene–polymer hybrid nanocomposite for strain sensors by a laser direct writing technique on a polyimide sheet. To protect the device, ecoflex polymer was applied as the passivation layer. Depending on the applications, ecoflex grid-wrapped and film-encapsulated have high stretchability and sensitivity. In demonstrations the sensor platform suffered almost no performance degradation even after >60 000 stretching cycle tests due to less strain within the sensor. As proof-of-concept for […]

‘Breathable’ electronics pave the way for more functional wearable tech

Science Daily  April 30, 2020 Researchers at the North Carolina State University used the breath figure method to create a stretchable polymer film featuring an even distribution of holes. The film is coated by dipping it in a solution that contains silver nanowires and heat-press the material to seal the nanowires in place. The resulting a few micrometers thick film showed an excellent combination of electric conductivity, optical transmittance and water-vapor permeability and stability in the presence of sweat and after long-term wear. They demonstrated the material’s potential for use in wearable electronics and electrophysiologic sensors…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE

A new stretchable battery can power wearable electronics

EurekAlert  January 24, 2020 To develop a soft and stretchable battery an international team of researchers (USA – Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, China, Singapore) developed a polymer that is solid and stretchable rather than gooey and potentially leaky, and carries an electric charge between the battery’s poles. In lab tests the experimental battery maintained a constant power output even when squeezed, folded and stretched to nearly twice its original length. The thumbnail-sized prototype stores roughly half as much energy, ounce for ounce, as a comparable conventional battery. The team is working to increase the battery’s energy density, build […]