The new 'Transformative Electronics Systems’ platform, allows users to seamlessly and precisely tune its stiffness and shape.
The researchers explain that the system consists of a special gallium metal structure, hermetically encapsulated and sealed within a soft silicone material, combined with electronics that are designed to be flexible and stretchable. The mechanical transformation of the electronic systems is triggered by temperature change events controlled by the user.
"This new class of electronics will not only offer robust, convenient interfaces for use in both tabletop or handheld setups, but also allow seamless integration with the skin when applied onto our bodies," said Professor Jae-Woong Jeong, who led the research. Professor Jeong is from the School of Electrical Engineering at KAIST, a research university in South Korea.
Once the transformative electronic platform comes in contact with a human body, the gallium metal encapsulated inside the silicone changes to a liquid state and softens the whole electronic structure, making it stretchable, flexible, and wearable. The gallium metal then solidifies again once the structure is peeled off the skin, making the electronic circuits stiff and stable. When flexible electronic circuits were integrated onto these transformative platforms, it could be manipulated into being either flexible and stretchable or rigid.
As this system can be applied to both traditional and emerging electronics technologies, the researchers believe it can reshape the consumer electronics industry, especially in the biomedical and robotic domains.
