{"id":16193,"date":"2020-04-14T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=16193"},"modified":"2020-04-10T12:18:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T11:18:39","slug":"could-stretchable-electronics-of-the-future-mimic-human-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/could-stretchable-electronics-of-the-future-mimic-human-skin\/","title":{"rendered":"Could stretchable electronics of the future mimic human skin?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Samir Jaber shows how a new paradigm shift in electronics, stretchable electronics,could herald an altogether more flexible future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The days of the hard computer chip may be numbered. Covered in transistors and other semi-conducting elements, these rigid devices likewise render the devices in which they are found – our televisions, laptops and smartphones – similarly inflexible.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite many false starts, stretchable electronics have been developing – and becoming commercialised – for about a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a recent report by IDTechEX Research, Stretchable<\/em> Electronics 2017-2027<\/em><\/strong><\/a> the market for stretchable electronics could grow to at least $600m by 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stretchable electronics are required to conform to a required shape and survive the environment in which they must operate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main application behind the technology\u2019s explosive growth potential is wearables, where stretchable electronics can be woven into soft fabrics or textiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wearables, whether they are relied upon in military, medical or sports applications, demand one dimensional (1D) electronic devices that are light, flexible and adaptable to frequent deformations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other applications include soft robots – that are, as the name suggests, made from soft or elastic materials – and stretchable sensors, circuits, displays, batteries, energy harvesters, displays, transistors and photovoltaics. ]\u2018Stretch sensors\u2019 are finding use in a variety of applications from electronic textiles to robotic arms, and the industry is considering new applications beyond these; including the notion that stretchable electronics could one day offer a biomimicry of human skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, many of these ideas are still in the early proof-of-concept phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary drivers behind stretchable electronics are material synthesis,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mechanical design and fabrication. Clearly, much progress has been made in stretchable electronics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what are the materials and processes affecting this significant paradigm shift in electronics? There are two basic principles behind the manufacture of stretchable conductors and electrodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First is the use of intrinsic stretchable materials; second is making intrinsically non-stretchable materials stretchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, to achieve stretchable conductors, conductive components – like metal nanowires, conductive carbon nanomaterials and conductive polymers – are often used as fillers and arranged in an elastomer matrix, whereby materials are cross-linked. This matrix is arranged to a desired structural design. This may be a wavy configuration, a fractal design or a horseshoe-shaped planar structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, strenuous efforts have been made to improve the electronic performance of these technologies under stretching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, how \u2018stretchable\u2019 must this technology be? For smart clothing and other wearable electronic devices, 25% stretchability is generally enough and the device must maintain its performance up to the critical strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two methods for producing stretchable materials have emerged in recent years. One is remote epitaxy, or the \u2018peel and stack\u2019 method. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developed by engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), remote epitaxy involves growing thin films of semiconducting material on a large, thick wafer of the same material. This is covered in an intermediate layer of graphene which is 200-times stronger than steel and thought to be one of the most promising semimetals on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any number of thin, flexible semiconducting films can then be peeled away from the graphene-covered wafer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucially, it\u2019s possible to stack films made from different materials to produce flexible, multifunctional electronic devices. The essence of the technology – that MIT says is cost-effective – depends on polarity, or charges between the atoms flowing over graphene and the atoms in the underlying wafer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, researchers in China has developed an alternative to MIT\u2019s \u2018peel and stack\u2019 method. This fashioned material is called a metal-polymer conductor (MPC). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the metals are not typical conductive solids – copper, silver, or gold – but, instead, gallium and indium that exist as a syrupy liquid through which electricity can flow.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In simple terms, the MPC has been described as islands of round liquid metal floating in a sea of silicone-based polymer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The polymer network itself yields mechanically resilient materials with enough conductivity to support functioning circuits. MIT\u2019s engineers have tested different MPC formulations in a range of applications including wearable keyboard gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever exciting applications are in the pipeline for stretchable electronics, materials scientists and design engineers can make use of a comprehensive materials database like Matmatch to keep up-to-date with the latest applications, materials choices and fabrication strategies behind this fascinating new evolution in electronics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the days of the rigid computer chip are not over, we can at least look forward to the expanded possibilities of a more flexible future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samir Jaber is a content writer at materials database Matmatch<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samir Jaber shows how a new paradigm shift in electronics, stretchable electronics,could herald an altogether more flexible future The days of the hard computer chip may be numbered. 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