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Category: wearables

University of Tokyo researchers have created an ultrathin and ultraflexible organic e-skin that supports PLED and OLED displays.

Researchers from the University of Tokyo have created a protective layer of organic material that’s ultrathin and ultraflexible. And the have demonstrated the material’s usefulness by making an OLED display that’s air-stable. This opens the possibility of developing better electronic skin displays, the next major leap in wearable technology.

The thickness (or rather, thinness) and flexibility of wearable electronics is an essential factor in its further development. Plastic substrates are commonly used in the creation of such devices, which still require millimeter-scale thick glass. Also, whenever micrometer-scale and flexible organic materials are developed, they aren’t reliably stable when exposed to air.

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Imagine shirts that act as antennas for smartphones or tablets, workout clothes that monitor fitness level or even a flexible fabric cap that senses activity in the brain!

All this will soon be possible as the researchers working on wearable electronics have been able to embroider circuits into fabric with super precision — a key step toward the design of clothes that gather, store or transmit digital information.

“A revolution is happening in the textile industry. We believe that functional textiles are an enabling technology for communications and sensing and one day, even for medical applications like imaging and health monitoring,” said lead researcher John Volakis from Ohio State University.

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The transistor is the most fundamental building block of electronics, used to build circuits capable of amplifying electrical signals or switching them between the 0s and 1s at the heart of digital computation. Transistor fabrication is a highly complex process, however, requiring high-temperature, high-vacuum equipment.

Now, University of Pennsylvania engineers have shown a new approach for making these devices: sequentially depositing their components in the form of liquid nanocrystal “inks.”

Their new study, published in Science, opens the door for electrical components to be built into flexible or wearable applications, as the lower-temperature process is compatible with a wide array of materials and can be applied to larger areas.

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HUGE deal for wearables and biomed technologies.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated a new approach to modifying the light absorption and stretchability of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials by surface topographic engineering using only mechanical strain. The highly flexible system has future potential for wearable technology and integrated biomedical optical sensing technology when combined with flexible light-emitting diodes.

“Increasing graphene’s low light absorption in visible range is an important prerequisite for its broad potential applications in photonics and sensing,” explained SungWoo Nam, an assistant professor of mechanical science and engineering at Illinois. “This is the very first stretchable photodetector based exclusively on graphene with strain-tunable photoresponsivity and wavelength selectivity.”

Graphene—an atomically thin layer of hexagonally bonded carbon atoms—has been extensively investigated in advanced photodetectors for its broadband absorption, high carrier mobility, and mechanical flexibility. Due to graphene’s low optical absorptivity, graphene photodetector research so far has focused on hybrid systems to increase photoabsorption. However, such hybrid systems require a complicated integration process, and lead to reduced carrier mobility due to the heterogeneous interfaces.

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A new nanomaterial printing method could make it both easier and cheaper to create devices such as wearable chemical and biological sensors, data storage and integrated circuits — even on flexible surfaces such as paper or cloth. The secret? Plamsa.

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A flexible, paper-like ceramic material has been created that promises to provide an inexpensive, fireproof, non-conductive base for a whole range of new and innovative electronic devices (Credit: Eurakite). View gallery (4 images)

Materials to make hard-wearing, bendable non-conducting substrates for wearables and other flexible electronics are essential for the next generation of integrated devices. In this vein, researchers at the University of Twente have reformulated ceramic materials so that they have the flexibility of paper and the lightness of a polymer, but still retain exceptional high-temperature resistance. The new material has been dubbed flexiramics.

High-tech materials such as flexible polymers show promise in this regard, as does boron nitride, and may eventually make the cheaper, but more brittle insulators – such as those made from traditional ceramics – a thing of the past. However, the new ceramic material, named flexiramics, could give these new materials a run for their money as it is not only a tissue-like material that is easy to fold without breaking, it is also reportedly inexpensive and easy to produce.

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MasterCard is bringing the future of commerce to life with virtual and augmented reality commerce experiences and payment enabled wearables at the.
Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard (API) in Orlando, FL. Soon, golf fans may be able to shop for Graeme McDowell’s equipment and G-Mac apparel, while teeing off with him on a virtual fairway. Or, while out on the course, golfers might simply tap their golf glove at the point-of-sale to buy refreshments from the beverage cart—no wallet required.

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