Manufacturing 'electronic leather'

Scientists have successfully researched the 'electronic skin' technology that has a very sensitive sense of touch like human skin, Nature Materials said.

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Although electronic devices have long identified the force or weight of an object acting on it but combined with the flexibility and elasticity, it is possible to identify which force affects which place as an organ touch like human skin is still a big difficulty of technology.

The primary purpose of studying these materials is to create robots that are universal, tactile and able to recognize very small objects. The further goal is that on this basis, a new generation of prosthetic devices is used to treat human diseases. For example, make artificial skin for patients who lose their sense of touch, such as severe burns or skin neuropathy.

' Electronic leather ' research projects have been in place for a long time and in most cases scientists have used semiconductor, elastic, polymer materials but have not yet obtained any promising results. in fact, because the physical electrical parameters are very bad, and require energy consumption.

Electronic skin will be as sensitive as human skin.

Overcoming this obstacle is the research team of Ali Javey, University of California at Berkeley (USA). They built 'leather components' using elastic nanocrystals away from a mixture of silicon and germanium. The team succeeded in overcoming physical electrical parameters thanks to inorganic semiconductor materials and turning that inorganic material into elasticity by introducing it into the nano state.

In the paper announcing its invention, the scientists talked about the synthesis of nanocrystals and a fairly simple method to coat them on the surface of a super-thin elastic polymer film used as a base for a The collection of extremely small transistor components distributed evenly over an elastic surface. That is electronic leather.

It has the ability to feel where people are touching, how weak and strong it is to send a signal to the 'brain' of robots and of humans if applied in medicine.

Research project leader Kuniharu Takei said: "This is the first time a nanofiber-based material has been structured in a certain order with functional components successfully tested in This technology can be produced on a large scale easily and applied to large sized devices. '

Meanwhile, a second group of scientists led by Zhenan Bao, Princeton University (also in the US) has a different approach. Their electronic skin background is also a lot of pressure sensitive transistors thanks to a microstructure, made of a polymer called polidimetilssiloxan, to prevent contact with electronic microstructures. About the electronic skin characteristics of Bao is no less than Javey's 'electronic skin' .