Think of a future where your phone bends to fit your pocket, your medical implant becomes soft inside your body, or robots change the shape to squeeze through tight places. This future may be closer to you, thanks to a new invention of researchers in South Korea.
Scientists at Kest and Seoul National University have developed a “electronic ink”, which can be printed in the circuit that switchs between the temperature, by changing the temperature, rigid and soft. This success can give birth to a new generation of flexible electronics – gadgets that are not just binders, but in fact it can change how rigid or soft they are depending on where and how they are used.
How does this work?
The secret component is gallium, a metal that is solid at room temperature, but melts just below the body temperature. By combining small gallium particles with a flexible polymer and a solvent, the team created a stable ink that can be printed using regular techniques such as screen printing. When the printed circuit is gently heated, the solvent breaks, causing ink conductive and changes its hardness. Results: Circuit that can be rigid like plastic, soft to rubber, and back back, back as required.
Why is this thing?
Most electronics are either harsh today – think of smartphones and laptops – or soft, such as fitness bands and other wearbals. Hard tools are durable and powerful, but are not comfortable or favorable to wear. Soft devices are flexible, but can be difficult to make with the same accuracy. This is the new ink bridge that allows the device to move between hard and flexible as required.
Researchers showed two working prototypes. One is a wearet -able health tool that is strong at room temperature, but when it touches your skin, it becomes soft, making it more comfortable to wear. The second is a brain implant that remains hard for accurate placement during surgery, then soft inside the body to reduce irritation.
What will happen next?
Because ink works with common manufacturing methods, it can be used in future or even for 3D-affected electronics. The circuit can be diluted as a human hair and can be more than 1,400 times soft when heated. It opens the possibilities for everything from medical tech to smart clothes and flexible robots. “It opens new possibilities for future individual electronics, medical devices and robotics for future personal electronics, medical devices and robotics, as Kest Professor J-Wong Jong said.
This can change and change the way new electronic ink gadgets make gadgets, making them more favorable, comfortable and versatile than ever. This study was published in the magazine Science progress,
