Although there are many possibilities in the field of stretchable electronics, bonding the components of such devices can be difficult. The new connector is designed to help as it expands between components and links them together in seconds.
Currently, various parts of stretchable electronic devices (such as soft-body robots and wearable sensors) are often directly glued. Unfortunately, electrical signals cannot pass through adhesive. Furthermore, if those parts are pulled in opposite directions, the adhesive bond will quickly break.
Seeking a more functional alternative, an international team of scientists led by Professor Chen Xiaodong of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore created a ribbon-like connector called BIND (BIphasic, Nano-dispersed Interface).
It is primarily composed of a soft thermoplastic already widely used in stretchable electronics known as styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene. Embedded within a thermoplastic matrix are gold or silver conductive nanoparticles.
When a user assembles a stretchable electronic device, they simply press each end of one BIND connector onto each of the two components, such as circuit boards. The edges will adhere firmly to those items in just 10 seconds. The connector can be stretched up to seven times its relaxed length without breaking. It also continues to transmit robust electrical signals between components while being stretched up to 2.8 times its normal state.
Additionally, a standard peel adhesion test showed that the two ends of the connector (bonded to the linked components) had an adhesive toughness 60 times greater than traditional bonding adhesives. .
The technology has already been successfully tested on rat and human skin-mounted monitoring devices, in the latter case measuring electrical activity in the arm muscles, even underwater.
Nanyang’s Dr. Jiang Ying said: “For example, high-quality wearables can be used in fitness he trackers. Users can stretch, gesture, and move in the most comfortable way without affecting the device’s ability to capture and monitor physiological signals.” can.”
A paper on research in which scientists from Stanford University also participated.Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology; Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR); and National University of Singapore – recently published in a journal Nature.
Source: Nanyang Technological University
