A vapour-permeable, flexible and highly elastic and electrically conductive mat could be useful in the production of health-monitoring devices, soft robotics and on-skin electronics, according to its developers at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in China.The researchers claim that the mat over comes the disadvantages of the impermeable elastic thick films typically used for the production of flexible circuitry for wearable devices, the longtime wear of which can cause the irritation and inflammation of the skin.As described in a paper in Nature Materials(1), the mat is fabricated by depositing liquid-metal circuitry onto an electrospun elastomeric fibre mat using coating or printing processes. A mechanical activation process is then carried out that causes the liquid metal to self-organise into a laterally porous and vertically buckled film that hangs among the fibres of the mat.
展开▼
