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IPFS News Link • Techno Gadgets

Accordionlike Conductors Could Spawn Flexible Display Screens

• http://www.scientificamerican.com

Origami-inspired engineering techniques could help researchers develop stretchy conductors for flexible plasma-screen displays and, eventually, solar panels that can bend to follow sunlight, according to a new study.

Increasingly, researchers worldwide are developing flexible electronics, such as batteries and solar panels, that could one day make their way into clothing and even human bodies. But in order to make parts such as wires and electrodes, the scientists need conductors that are just as flexible.

However, stretchy conductors are difficult to design; existing ones either do not stretch much or their conductivity plunges dramatically if they do, the researchers said. [Top 10 Inventions that Changed the World]

Now, for the first time, scientists have used a variation of origami, known as kirigami, to create stretchable conductors. Whereas conventional origami uses only folding to create structures, kirigamiuses both folding and cutting.

Normally, when materials get stretched, they can tear, reducing their electrical conductivity and thus their ability to carry electricity from one place to another. Furthermore, it can be difficult to predict when and where rips will occur, making it challenging to know precisely how the materials' properties might change, the researchers said.


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