Electronic circuits

Scientists have developed a way to produce soft, flexible and stretchy electronic circuits and radio antennas by hand, simply by writing on specially designed sheets of material.
This technique could help people draw electronic devices into existence on demand for customized devices, researchers said in a new study describing the method.
Whereas conventional electronics are stiff, new soft electronics are flexible and potentially stretchable and foldable. Researchers around the world are investigating soft electronics for applications such as wearable and implantable devices.

 

The new technique researchers developed creates circuits by fusing, or sintering, together bits of metal to form electrically conductive wires. But the newly developed process does not use heat, as is often the case with sintering. Instead, this method involves soft sheets made of silicone rubber that have many tiny droplets of liquid metal embedded inside them. Pressing down on these sheets using, for instance, the tip of a pen, ruptures the capsules, much like popping miniature water balloons, and the liquid metal inside can pool to form circuit elements.