How would it be if there was a smartphone that could be folded, a tablet device that could be rolled is reliable, powerful, and most importantly affordable? A new research directed by scientists at Wake Forest University and published in Nature Communications has led to a method that enables to make this further stronger. The method pinpoints as well as eliminates the sources of instability in the materials and devices used for such applications.
“Meanwhile, for the work, the team introduced a strategy that provides a dependable tool for subsequent steps. It accurately identifies pathways for the degradation of environmental and operational device degradation, and subsequently eliminates the main sources of instabilities to attain stable devices,” said the lead author of the study.
In fact, stability of devices has remained one of the key issues in flexible organic electronics. Due to this, potentially life-changing inventions such as smart bandages to monitor healing of an injured arm, smart tablets that could be conveniently rolled into a pen, or flexible transparent smart cells turn out to be expensive and are stuck in prototype stage.
Importantly, the findings could bolster the effectiveness and scope of many real-world applications that can contribute to IoT.
Interestingly, these devices can be placed on almost anything, on fabric for wearable electronics, or in conformal biomedical applications. Now that they can be made at a lower cost, electronic devices and their capabilities that were unimaginable earlier seem possible. This will enhance the quality of our lives, address major challenges such as sustainability and environment.
To accomplish this, the research team has been working closely with the Wake Forest School of Medicine to design a gadget similar to human tissue that can detect level of radiation during cancer therapy.
