07-Oct-2021 | Market Research Store
Skin electronics are gadgets that can be used in a wide range of applications in the near future, including health monitoring, virtual reality, diagnosis, and human-machine interaction. A team of researchers at Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, has recently fabricated an innovative nanomembrane using a three-step float construction method. The initial step is to spread a composite solution on the water's surface, which is made up of metal nanowires, ethanol, and rubber-toluene solution. Owing to the hydrophobic nature, the rubber-toluene phase remains above the upper meniscus of water, while the nanowires suspend at the water-toluene interface. The ethanol in the solution reduces the local surface tension of water by reacting with it and results in a Marangoni flow that spreads outward and prevents the aggregation of nanowires. This leads to the formation of a monolayer of nanomaterials.
Later, a surfactant is added into the solution, which generates another wave of Marangoni flow that holds the nanowires firmly. In the end, toluene is evaporated, thereby producing a nanomembrane with an exceptional structure consisting of a densely organized monolayer of nanowires partially integrated into an ultrathin and flexible rubber sheet. The unique structural framework of ultrathin rubber films delivers appropriate strain distribution, which results in excellent physical characteristics such as the extent of stretchability reaches over 1,000% and a range of thickness remains below 250 nm. Bi-layer stacking and cold welding of the nanomembranes onto each other is also possible, which allows conductivity of over 100,000 S/cm. Moreover, the researchers claimed that they employed photolithography to pattern the nanomembrane.
The float assembly process may be used on a variety of nanomaterials, including semiconducting nanomaterials, magnetic nanomaterials, and other forms of elastomers including SIS and TPU. According to the team, the float assembly approach would possibly lead to innovations involving several types of nanomembranes offering diverse applications.
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