Stretching the limits of elastic conductors
A newly developed printable elastic conductor retains high conductivity even when stretched to as much as five times its original length, says a Japanese team of scientists. The new material, produced in paste-like ink form, can be printed in various patterns on textiles and rubber surfaces as stretchable wiring for wearable devices incorporating sensors, as well as give human skin-like functions to robot exteriors.
The development of wearable devices such as those monitoring a person's health or physical performance, like heart rate or muscle activity, is currently underway with some products already on the market. Moreover, with the advent of robots in areas such as health care and retail, in addition to manufacturing, future applications for sensitive elastic conductive material that can withstand high strain from stretching are likely to increase at a fever pitch.
"We saw the growing demand for wearable devices and robots," says Professor Takao Someya at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Engineering, who supervised the current study. "We felt it was very important to create printable elastic conductors to help meet the need and realize the development of the products," he adds.
Read more.