Stretchable Electronics

Researchers from the McCormick School of Engineering have developed a design that allows electronics to bend and stretch to more than 200 percent of their original size. Today's previous technology maximum stretch capacity is 50 percent, so this is a major breakthrough in materials science and electronics which could bring applications in all fields, specially in the health sector.

The paper was published in 2012 in Nature Communications and the material's key point is the combination between a nanoporous polymer and liquid metal. According to Joseph Cummings, who is a professor from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, this level of stretchability would enable us to have medical devices integrated in the body. The team defeated the major concern of stretchable electronics which was loss of conductivity. They created a highly porous 3D structure using poly(dimethylsiloxane) that can stretch to three times its original size. Afterwards, they placed WGaIn (a liquid metal) inside the pores and this allows electricity to flow consistently even when the material is excessively stretched.

Reference:
Park, J; Wang, S; Li, M et al. (2012) Three-dimensional nanonetworks for giant stretchability in dielectrics and conductors. Nature Communications, 3, 916, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1929.