| Researchers have developed an ultra-thin and ultra-flexible electronic material that could be printed and rolled out like newspaper, for the touchscreens of the future. | |
| The touch-responsive technology is 100 times thinner than existing touchscreen materials and so pliable it can be rolled up like a tube. | |
| To create the new conductive sheet, an RMIT University-led team used a thin film common in cell phone touchscreens and shrunk it from 3D to 2D, using liquid metal chemistry. | |
| The nano-thin sheets are readily compatible with existing electronic technologies and because of their incredible flexibility, could potentially be manufactured through roll-to-roll (R2R) processing just like a newspaper. | |
| The research, with collaborators from UNSW, Monash University and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET), is published in the journal Nature Electronics ("Flexible two-dimensional indium tin oxide fabricated using a liquid metal printing technique"). |
| Lead researcher Dr Torben Daeneke said most cell phone touchscreens were made of a transparent material, indium-tin oxide, that was very conductive but also very brittle. | |
| "We've taken an old material and transformed it from the inside to create a new version that's supremely thin and flexible," said Daeneke, an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at RMIT. | |
| "You can bend it, you can twist it, and you could make it far more cheaply and efficiently that the slow and expensive way that we currently manufacture touchscreens. | |
| "Turning it two-dimensional also makes it more transparent, so it lets through more light. | |
| "This means a cell phone with a touchscreen made of our material would use less power, extending the battery life by roughly 10%." |
Image Credit: RMIT University
News This Week
Nanomotors: Where Are They Now?
First introduced in 2004, nanomotors have steadily advanced from a scientific curiosity to a practical technology with wide-ranging applications. This article explores the key developments, recent innovations, and major uses of nanomotors today. A [...]
Study Finds 95% of Tested Beers Contain Toxic “Forever Chemicals”
Researchers found PFAS in 95% of tested beers, with the highest levels linked to contaminated local water sources. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), better known as forever chemicals, are gaining notoriety for their ability [...]
Long COVID Symptoms Are Closer To A Stroke Or Parkinson’s Disease Than Fatigue
When most people get sick with COVID-19 today, they think of it as a brief illness, similar to a cold. However, for a large number of people, the illness doesn't end there. The World [...]
The world’s first AI Hospital, developed in China is transforming healthcare
Artificial Intelligence and its developments have had a revolutionary impact on society, and healthcare is not an exception. China has made massive strides in AI integrated healthcare, and continues to do so as AI [...]
Scientists Rewire Immune Cells To Supercharge Cancer-Fighting Power
Blocking a single protein boosts T cell metabolism and tumor-fighting strength. The discovery could lead to next-generation cancer immunotherapies. Scientists have identified a strategy to greatly enhance the cancer-fighting abilities of the immune system’s [...]
Scientists Discover 20 Percent of Human DNA Comes from a Mysterious Ancestor
Humans carry a complex genetic history that continues to reveal surprises. Scientists have found that 20% of our DNA may come from a mysterious ancestor, according to WP Tech. This discovery changes how we understand [...]
AI detects early prostate cancer missed by pathologists
Men assessed as healthy after a pathologist analyses their tissue sample may still have an early form of prostate cancer. Using AI, researchers at Uppsala University have been able to find subtle tissue changes [...]
The Rare Mutation That Makes People Immune to Viruses
Some people carry a rare mutation that makes them resistant to viruses. Now scientists have copied that effect with an experimental mRNA therapy that stopped both flu and COVID in animal trials — raising [...]
Nanopore technique for measuring DNA damage could improve cancer therapy and radiological emergency response
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new technology for measuring how radiation damages DNA molecules. This novel technique, which passes DNA through tiny openings called nanopores, detects [...]
AI Tool Shows Exactly When Genes Turn On and Off
Summary: Researchers have developed an AI-powered tool called chronODE that models how genes turn on and off during brain development. By combining mathematics, machine learning, and genomic data, the method identifies exact “switching points” that [...]
Your brain could get bigger – not smaller – as you age
recently asked myself if I’ll still have a healthy brain as I get older. I hold a professorship at a neurology department. Nevertheless, it is difficult for me to judge if a particular brain, [...]
Hidden Cost of Smart AI: 50× More CO₂ for a Single Question
Every time we ask an AI a question, it doesn’t just return an answer—it also burns energy and emits carbon dioxide. German researchers found that some “thinking” AI models, which generate long, step-by-step reasoning [...]
Genetically-engineered immune cells show promise for preventing organ rejection
A Medical University of South Carolina team reports in Frontiers in Immunology that it has engineered a new type of genetically modified immune cell that can precisely target and neutralize antibody-producing cells complicit in organ rejection. [...]
Building and breaking plastics with light: Chemists rethink plastic recycling
What if recycling plastics were as simple as flicking a switch? At TU/e, Assistant Professor Fabian Eisenreich is making that vision a reality by using LED light to both create and break down a [...]
Generative AI Designs Novel Antibiotics That Defeat Defiant Drug-Resistant Superbugs
Harnessing generative AI, MIT scientists have created groundbreaking antibiotics with unique membrane-targeting mechanisms, offering fresh hope against two of the world’s most formidable drug-resistant pathogens. With the help of artificial intelligence, MIT researchers have [...]
AI finds more breast tumors earlier than traditional double radiologist review
AI is detecting tumors more often and earlier in the Dutch breast cancer screening program. Those tumors can then be treated at an earlier stage. This has been demonstrated by researchers led by Radboud [...]
