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    flexible electronics tagged posts

    Graphene ‘Copy Machine’ may produce Cheap Semiconductor Wafers

    April 20, 2017, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Physics, Technology/Electronics

    (Left to right): Postdoc Kyusang Lee, Professor Jeehwan Kim (sitting), and graduate students Samuel Cruz and Yunjo Kim. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares/MIT

    (Left to right): Postdoc Kyusang Lee, Professor Jeehwan Kim (sitting), and graduate students Samuel Cruz and Yunjo Kim. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares/MIT

    A new technique may vastly reduce the overall cost of wafer technology and enable devices made from more exotic, higher-performing semiconductor materials than conventional silicon. The new method uses graphene as a sort of ‘copy machine’ to transfer intricate crystalline patterns from an underlying semiconductor wafer to a top layer of identical material. In 2016, annual global semiconductor sales reached their highest-ever point, at $339 billion worldwide. In that same year, the semiconductor industry spent about $7...

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    Spray-on Memory could enable bendable Digital Storage

    April 3, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Spray-on memory could enable bendable digital storage

    Duke University researchers have developed a new ‘spray-on’ digital memory (upper left) that could be used to build programmable electronic devices on flexible materials like paper, plastic or fabric. To demonstrate a simple application of their device, they used their memory to program different patterns of four LED lights in a simple circuit. Credit: Matthew Catenacci ==

    USB flash drives are already common accessories in offices and college campuses. But thanks to the rise in printable electronics, digital storage devices like these may soon be everywhere—including on our groceries, pill bottles and even clothing...

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    Research leads to a Golden Discovery for Wearable Technology

    March 17, 2017, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Physics, Technology/Electronics

    An example of a gold foil peeled from single crystal silicon. Credit: Reprinted with permission from Naveen Mahenderkar et al., Science [355]:[1203] (2017)

    An example of a gold foil peeled from single crystal silicon.
    Credit: Reprinted with permission from Naveen Mahenderkar et al., Science [355]:[1203] (2017)

    Some day, your smartphone might completely conform to your wrist, and when it does, it might be covered in pure gold, thanks to researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology. They have developed a way to “grow” thin layers of gold on single crystal wafers of silicon, remove the gold foils, and use them as substrates on which to grow other electronic materials. This could revolutionize wearable or “flexible” technology research, greatly improving versatility of electronics in the future.

    Most research into wearable technology has been done using polymer substrates, or substrates made up of multiple crystals...

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    Scalable 100% yield production of Conductive Graphene Inks

    February 21, 2017, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Technology/Electronics

    We report the exfoliation of graphite in aqueous solutions under high shear rate [∼ 108 s–1] turbulent flow conditions, with a 100% exfoliation yield. The material is stabilized without centrifugation at concentrations up to 100 g/L using carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt to formulate conductive printable inks. The sheet resistance of blade coated films is below ∼2Ω/□. This is a simple and scalable production route for conductive inks for large-area printing in flexible electronics.

    We report the exfoliation of graphite in aqueous solutions under high shear rate [∼ 108 s–1] turbulent flow conditions, with a 100% exfoliation yield. The material is stabilized without centrifugation at concentrations up to 100 g/L using carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt to formulate conductive printable inks. The sheet resistance of blade coated films is below ∼2Ω/□. This is a simple and scalable production route for conductive inks for large-area printing in flexible electronics.

    Conductive inks are useful for a range of applications, including printed and flexible electronics such as radio frequency identification (RFID) antennas, transistors or photovoltaic cells...

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