18 MOMENTUM • VIRGINIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
UNBROKEN
NEW SOFT ELECTRONICS DON ’ T BREAK , EVEN WHEN PUNCTURED
Want a smartphone that stretches , takes damage , and still doesn ’ t miss a call ?
A team of Virginia Tech researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Macromolecules Innovation Institute has created a new type of soft electronics , paving the way for devices that are self-healing , reconfigurable , and recyclable . These skin-like circuits are soft and stretchy , sustain numerous damage events under load without losing electrical conductivity , and can be recycled to generate new circuits at the end of a product ’ s life .
Led by Assistant Professor Michael Bartlett , the team recently published its findings in Communications Materials , an open access journal from Nature Research .
Current consumer devices , such as phones and laptops , contain rigid materials that use soldered wires running throughout . The soft circuit developed by Bartlett ’ s team replaces these inflexible materials with soft electronic composites and tiny , electricity-conducting liquid metal droplets . These soft electronics are part of a rapidly emerging field of technology that gives gadgets a level of durability that would have been impossible just a few years ago .
The liquid metal droplets are initially dispersed in an elastomer , a type of rubbery polymer , as electrically insulated , discrete drops .