Kirigami—an Art and a Science?
Kirigami is an ancient form of paper art in which folded pieces of paper are cut to form intricate, flexible and three-dimensional shapes. Researchers from the University of Buffalo may have unlocked a major development in the smart clothing industry by applying these principles to electronics. In a study published last week in Advanced Materials, the engineers outline an innovation in flexible electronics that they say was inspired largely by kirigami—and which could have big implications for what people are wearing a decade from now.
A Robust, Malleable Circuit Board
The study set out to produce a form of circuitry that was more malleable and stretchable than the options that are currently available. As the Internet of Things continues spreading to all classes of consumer products, the demand for these types of electronics is growing. As lead author Shenqiang Ren noted, “Traditional electronics, like the printed circuit boards in tablets and other electronic devices, are rigid. That's not a good match for the human body.” In its effort to address the need for bendable circuitry, the team used concepts derived from kirigami to weave together sheets of conductive materials that were both resilient and pliable. The results were powerful.
Computer models generated by Temple University indicate that the sheets created by the University of Buffalo team could outstretch their original dimensions by 2,000 percent. For context, before kirigami was applied, the same polymer (known as PthTFB) had about a 6 percent margin for deformation before its electronic properties began to be compromised. Even more impressive, the kirigami-style PthTFB sheets saw their conductivity jump by three orders of magnitude over the inflexible iterations.
PthTFB and the Market for Flexible Electronics
Flexible electronics have been trending in the industry for several years now, but the discipline remains somewhat underdeveloped. The trade-off between strength and flexibility associated with traditional circuitry has been a limiting factor for innovation. This study has the potential to change that. The remarkable new polymer could have wide-ranging applications, including flexible display screens in consumer electronics, e-paper for use in future newspapers and magazines, and electronic “skin” for biomedical applications. Still, the most exciting potential use of this technology is in the wearable space. As the study’s authors pointed out, human bodies flex, bend and stretch in dynamic ways. Some analysts peg the production of “smart clothing” that can match this dynamism as a potential $4 billion industry within a decade. PthTFB could play a big role in tapping that market.
For more on the latest trends in flexible electronics, check out Ultrathin, Flexible Electronic Displays Could Be the New Normal in Print Media.