Get ready for the 'stretchphone': Radical new circuits could lead to shape changing screens and smart clothes and wallpaper
- Researchers have made the first stretchable circuit using just an inkjet printer
- The smart fabric could be used to make a thin tablet that can stretched larger
- It could also be used as wallpaper that can turn your wall into one giant screen
- Because the material can be produced on a standard printer, it could be manufactured much more cheaply compared to other current technologies
Researchers have developed the first stretchable circuit made using just an inkjet printer.
This makes the mass production of 'smart fabric,' stretchy screens possible in the near future.
Some of the potential applications of this fabric include a super thin tablet that can be stretched to a much larger, a rubber-band like device that sits on the wrist to measure one's heartbeat, and wallpaper that can turn you wall into one giant screen.
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The smart fabric created by MSU engineers, pictured here in its stretched state, could one day lead to an ultra-thin smart tablet that could be manually stretched to a larger size, or even be used to create a rubber-band like device that sits on the wrist, measuring one's heartbeat
The fabric was developed in the lab of Dr Chuan Wang, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan State University (MSU).
Because the material can be produced on a standard printer, it could be manufactured much more cheaply compared to other current technologies that are expensive to manufacture.
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Dr Wang said: 'We can conceivably make the costs of producing flexible electronics comparable to the costs of printing newspapers.
'Our work could soon lead to printed displays that can easily be stretched to larger sizes, as well as wearable electronics and soft robotics applications.'
The smart fabric is made of multiple materials made from nanomaterials and organic compounds.
The smart fabric is made of multiple materials made from nanomaterials and organic compounds. The researchers dissolved these compounds in a solution to produce different electronic ink, which were run through a printer to make the fabric. Dr Chuan Wang (pictured), assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan State University, displays the stretchable electronic material he and his research team developed in his lab
The researchers dissolved these compounds in a solution to produce different electronic ink, which were run through a printer to make the fabric.
From this special ink, the researchers managed to make an elastic material, a circuit and the organic light-emitting diode (OLED).
The team's next step will be to combine the circuit they made with the OLED into a single pixel - which Dr Wang says will take around one to two years.
According to the researchers, there are generally millions of pixels underneath the screen of a smart tablet or a large screen.
Researchers at MSU have created a stretchable light-emitting material that is produced entirely on an inkjet printer. Pictured right is the smart fabric shown in its 'relaxed' state
When the researchers are able to combine the circuit and OLED into a working pixel, the smart fabric could be commercialized.
Dr Wang said the smart fabric could be folded without breaking - which is an advantage over other current bendable electronics that he says can't be folded.
'We have created a new technology that is not yet available,' Dr Wang said.
'And we have taken it one big step beyond the flexible screens that are about to become commercially available.'
The smart fabric research was published in the journal ACS Nano.
MSU engineering researchers Dr Cai, left, and Dr Wang, right, work on a stretchable electronic fabric in Dr Wang's lab. Dr Wang said the smart fabric could be folded without breaking - which is an advantage over other current bendable electronics that he says can't be folded
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