The Future of Wearable Electronics

1

The Future of Wearable Electronics
2
Havent you ever dropped your smartphone, ending
with a cracked screen and cussing yourself for
being so careless? Havent you ever thought the
need for electronics that wouldnt break easily?
Turns out the future of electronics is everything
youve ever wanted it to be!
3
One of the main reasons that electronic parts
break is that they are made using materials that
break easily. They are difficult to use in
products that need bending, such as devices that
can be attached or glued onto the skin. Moreover,
clear or transparent materials or even heavy
plastics arent known to conduct electricity well
either. And this is probably why we havent seen
wearable electronics yet.
4
Thermoplastic composites
Yoon and his team started out with a material
known as acrylonitrile, a clear liquid that has
commonly been used to make thermoplastic
composites. This material was mixed with another
liquid which played the role of a solvent and the
mix was squeezed through an incredibly tiny
nozzle and sprayed through the air.
The solvent evaporated upon being sprayed and the
tiny acrylonitrile molecules ended up getting
linked to each other, creating a high gravity
compound called polyacrylonitrile. Continuous
squeezing created a long polyacrylonitrile fiber
which was so thin that it was almost invisible.
In fact, the human hair is 17 times wider.
Researchers also kept moving the nozzle back and
forth, which helped them create a layer that
resembled a spiders web.
5
Thermoplastic resins and fiber
Sounds great, doesnt it. However, like most
other thermoplastic composites, polyacrylonitrile
isnt a conductor of electricity. So the most
important step was to add metal to the coating so
that electricity could flow through.
6
Now since basic metal coatings couldnt stick to
polyacrylonitrile, researchers needed something
different. To counteract this problem, they
sprayed a coating of an inert metal like platinum
or gold on the polyacrylonitrile compound. They
then added another layer of polyacrylonitrile,
offering temporary support, assisting the metal
base to resist sagging.
7
This fiber covered frame was then connected to
negatively charged electrodes and dipped in a
solution which contained dissolved copper.
Electric current was run through the solution for
an entire minute during which time the copper got
attracted to the fibers. This allowed the
polyacrylonitrile to not only bond at places
where they touched each other, but also made it
possible to add a thin layer of copper which
conducted electricity. This was then attached to
a clear plastic which used adhesives the way
band-aids do. The entire frame was then dipped in
a liquid which dissolved polyacrylonitrile fibers
which didnt have copper jackets, leaving behind
a mesh made purely using copper-coated fibers.
Younan Xia, a materials scientist at Georgia
Institute Technology, states that its easy to
understand why the mesh is so transparent. Xia
also noted that the tinges of color added to the
mesh could further be reduced by using silver
instead of copper. Lab tests further proved that
the mesh is not only flexible, but also managed
to conduct electricity despite being bent more
than a thousand times. It carried electricity
after being stretched 6 times its length and none
of the fibers showed signs of deformity.  
8
In other words, this mesh could just be the
jumpstart wearable tech needed. It could find
great use as a flexible solar cell or as a sensor
for artificial skin or artificial limbs.
It could also be attached to the skin to monitor
electrical currents. But perhaps, its most
promising use is that it could also be used to
create roll-up touchscreen displays!
9
Mailing Shipping Address Ecomass
Technologies4101 Parkstone Heights Dr.Suite
380Austin, Texas  78746-7482USA Technical Sales
and Support info_at_ecomass.com
www.ecomass.com