Electronic Circuits Stretch To 200% The Original Size Like Rubber-Bands

McCormick School of Engineering researchers have made it possible to stretch and bend electronics to more than 200 percent their original size. This is a huge leap considering that this is four times greater than what we could do till now. Along with other researchers in United States, they have devised a combination of a porous polymer and liquid metal to achieve this. The applications that this project would seek is to integrate medical devices into the human body.

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The electronic circuits that we use today can withstand very little stretch. The researchers faced a difficulty in overcoming a loss of conductivity when these circuits are stretched. So, they sought out to create a highly porous 3D structure using a polymer material, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), that stretches to three times the original size. Then they placed a liquid metal (EGaIn) inside the pores, allowing electricity to flow consistently even when the material is excessively stretched. And the results were just amazing. Electrical conductivity in these circuits is increased by 100 times on stretching.

They published a paper on this titled “#-Link-Snipped-#,” in the journal <em>Nature Communications</em>.

Via: <a href="https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2012/06/yonggang-huang-flexible-electronics.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Northwestern Researchers Create “Rubber-Band Electronics” | News | Northwestern Engineering</a>