New nanomaterial offers promise in bendable, wearable electronic devices

An ultrathin film that is both transparent and highly conductive to electric current has been produced by a cheap and simple method devised by an international team of nanomaterials researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Korea University.

The film – actually a mat of tangled nanofiber, electroplated to form a “self-junctioned copper nano-chicken wire‚ – is also bendable and stretchable, offering potential applications in roll-up touchscreen displays, wearable electronics, flexible solar cells and electronic skin.

The new film establishes a “world-record combination of high transparency and low electrical resistance,” the latter at least 10-fold greater than the previous existing record, said Sam Yoon, who is also a corresponding author and a professor of mechanical engineering at Korea University.

The film also retains its properties after repeated cycles of severe stretching or bending, which is an important property for touchscreens or wearables.

Read more at University of Illinois at Chicago

Image Credit: University of Illinois at Chicago

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