Stretchable 'thubber' could give electronics soft touch

The team, which includes Carmel Majidi and Jonathan Malen of Carnegie Mellon University, describes its findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dubbed ‘thubber’ the new material is said to be an electrically insulating composite that exhibits metal-like thermal conductivity and elasticity similar to soft, biological tissue. It can also stretch over six times its initial length.

"Our combination of high thermal conductivity and elasticity is especially critical for rapid heat dissipation in applications such as wearable computing and soft robotics, which require mechanical compliance and stretchable functionality," said Majidi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering.

According to CMU, thubber could be applied to athletic wear and sports medicine, but the material could be further utilised in advanced manufacturing, energy and transportation.

"Until now, high power devices have had to be affixed to rigid, inflexible mounts that were the only technology able to dissipate heat efficiently," said Malen, an associate professor of mechanical engineering. "Now, we can create stretchable mounts for LED lights or computer processors that enable high performance without overheating in applications that demand flexibility, such as light-up fabrics and iPads that fold into your wallet."