flexible electronics tagged posts

Ultrathin 3D-printed films Convert Energy of One Form into Another

MIT researchers have 3-D printed ultrathin ceramic films that convert energy from one form into another for flexible electronics and biosensors. Here, they’ve printed the piezoelectric films into a pattern spelling out “MIT.” Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT researchers have developed a simple, low-cost method to 3D print ultrathin films with high-performing “piezoelectric” properties, which could be used for components in flexible electronics or highly sensitive biosensors.

Piezoelectric materials produce a voltage in response to physical strain, and they respond to a voltage by physically deforming. They’re commonly used for transducers, which convert energy of one form into another...

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Engineers use Heat-Free Tech for Flexible Electronics; print metal on flowers, gelatin

A rose with metallic, electronic traces printed on a petal.
Martin Thuo and his research group have developed heat-free technology that can print conductive, metallic lines and traces on just about anything, including a rose petal. 
Photo courtesy of Martin Thuo.

Researchers are using liquid-metal particles to print electronic lines and traces on rose petals, leaves, paper, gelatin – on all kinds of materials. The technology creates flexible electronics that could have many applications such as monitoring crops, tracking a building’s structural integrity or collecting biological data.

Martin Thuo of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory clicked through the photo gallery for one of his research projects. How about this one? There was a rose with metal traces printed on a delicate petal.
Or this? A curled sheet of paper with a flexib...

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Route to Flexible Electronics made from Exotic Materials

MIT researchers have devised a way to grow single crystal GaN thin film on a GaN substrate through two-dimensional materials. The GaN thin film is then exfoliated by a flexible substrate, showing the rainbow color that comes from thin film interference. This technology will pave the way to flexible electronics and the reuse of the wafers. Credit: Wei Kong and Kuan Qiao; Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license

MIT researchers have devised a way to grow single crystal GaN thin film on a GaN substrate through two-dimensional materials. The GaN thin film is then exfoliated by a flexible substrate, showing the rainbow color that comes from thin film interference. This technology will pave the way to flexible electronics and the reuse of the wafers.
Credit: Wei Kong and Kuan Qiao; Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license

Cost-effective method produces semiconducting films from materials that outperform silicon. MIT engineers have developed a technique to fabricate ultrathin semiconducting films made from a host of exotic materials other than silicon...

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Plant Inspiration could lead to Flexible Electronics

Biomimetic Architectured Graphene Aerogel with Exceptional Strength and Resilience

Biomimetic Architectured Graphene Aerogel with Exceptional Strength and Resilience

Versatile, light-weight materials that are both strong and resilient are crucial for the development of flexible electronics, such as bendable tablets and wearable sensors. Aerogels are good candidates for such applications, but until now, it’s been difficult to make them with both properties. Now, researchers report in ACS Nano that mimicking the structure of the “powdery alligator-flag” plant has enabled them to make a graphene-based aerogel that meets these needs.

Aerogels are light, porous materials that are already used in many applications, such as pollution control and insulation...

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