Advance in contact printing could lead to bendable electronics

In a paper published in Microsystems and Nanoengineering, engineers from Glasgow University describe how they have fabricated high-mobility semiconductor nanowires onto flexible surfaces to develop what are claimed to be high-performance ultra-thin electronic layers.

Those surfaces, which can reportedly be bent, flexed and twisted, could be utilised in video screens, improved health monitoring devices, implantable devices and synthetic skin for prosthetics.

The advance has been made at Glasgow University’s Bendable Electronics and Sensing Technologies (BEST) research group, which is led by Prof Ravinder Dahiya.

The BEST team has already developed solar-powered, flexible ‘electronic skin’ for use in prosthetics and stretchable health sensors that monitor pH levels of users’ sweat.

In their latest paper, the research team outline how they manufactured semiconductor nanowires from silicon and zinc oxide and printed them on flexible substrates to develop electronic devices and circuits.