2023-08-12 08:00:00
In a world where digital technology is ubiquitous, a team of researchers at the McKelvey School of Engineering in Washington University in St. Louis redefines the boundaries of electronics manufacturing.
Driven by Chuan Wangan associate professor of electrical and systems engineering, the team designed pens capable of writing flexible optoelectronic devices on common media such as paper, textiles, rubber, plastics and even 3D objects.
This advance makes these electronic components, already present in our smartphones and fitness bracelets, even more adaptable and integrated into our daily lives. Flexibility is no longer a luxury, but a standard.
From printer to pen: A natural transition
In a recent publication in “Nature Photonics“, the team detailed their innovative approach. Wang, echoing his previous research with the student Junyi Zhaomentioned : “Manually writing custom devices was a logical step following the printer. We already had the inks, so it was only natural to take the technology we had developed and modify it to work in regular ballpoint pens.”
The result of their work is a pen with special ink that allows you to create multicolored LEDs and photodetectors in a few minutes, writing layer by layer, like an artist with his colored felt-tip pens.
Ink Challenges
Translating printable ink into handwriting ink was no small feat. Zhao clarifies: “Translating from printer to ballpoint pen might seem simple, but charging the ink is just the start. Our ink is specially formulated, which makes the pens universal.”
The performance of the optoelectronic device largely depends on the precision of the ink layers, which must remain discrete and not mix.
Creating ink pens that work on all substrates, from paper to balloons, overcomes the critical limitations of traditional LED manufacturing – particularly the requirement for flat, smooth substrates and indoor manufacturing equipment cost prohibitively white – and paves the way for next-generation wearable electronics, which will seep into everyday life in an unprecedented way.
Future applications: The future is in our hands
With this invention, the possibilities seem endless. Wang imagines applications ranging from education and science popularization, to electronic packaging, clothing and medical sensors.
“Inexpensive, customizable LEDs open up opportunities for hands-on education, livelier textiles like light-up clothing or greeting cards, and smart packaging“, explains Mr. Wang. “One of the areas that excites us the most is medical applications. Hand-written light emitters and detectors provide greater flexibility for creating wearable biomedical sensors and bandages on which photodetectors and infrared LEDs might be drawn to measure pulse oximetry or accelerate wound healing .“
Synthetic
The advent of these electronic pens might well usher in a new era of personalization and integration of electronics into our daily lives. By making this technology accessible and flexible, it might democratize electronics manufacturing, thereby weaving flexible electronics into the very fabric of our daily lives.
For a better understanding
What is flexible optoelectronics? It is a branch of electronics that deals with light-emitting and light-sensing devices capable of bending, collapsing, and stretching while maintaining their functionality.How does this pen technology work? The pens contain a special ink that makes it possible to draw functional optoelectronic devices on various media.
Junyi Zhao demonstrates how to use a simple ballpoint pen to write custom LEDs on paper (left). The same pens can be used to draw multicolored patterns on aluminum foil (top right) and to create light sketches (bottom right). (Images courtesy of Wang’s lab)
Zhao J, Lo LW, Yu Z, Wang C. Handwriting of perovskite optoelectronic devices on diverse substrates. Nature PhotonicsAug. 7, 2023. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-023-01266-1
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