Consider shipping labels that flash to indicate changes in temperature or the sterility of food items, or a wearable patch that monitors your vital signs via color changes.
A new flexible display developed by UBC researchers and recently published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces has potential applications such as these.
“This gadget is prepared to do quick, real-time, and reversible variety change,” says specialist Claire Preston, who fostered the gadget as a feature of her master’s in electrical and PC design at UBC. “It can be stretched by up to 30% without sacrificing performance. It makes use of a technology that changes colors and can be used for visual monitoring. Additionally, production costs are low.”
The complexity of the designs and materials used in previous attempts to create stretchable displays has limited their stretchability and optical quality. In this new examination, researchers relied on electrochromic displays, which can reversibly change tone while requiring low power utilization, to defeat these constraints.
“This device is capable of rapid, real-time, and reversible color change, and it can be stretched up to 30% without sacrificing performance. It employs a color-changing technology for visual monitoring. And it is rather inexpensive to produce.”
Claire Preston, who developed the device as part of her master’s in electrical and computer engineering at UBC.
“We employed PEDOT: PSS is an electrochromic material made of an ionic liquid and a conductive polymer. This makes a stretchable electrode that doubles as an electrochromic element and an ion storage layer. According to Ms. Preston, this eliminates the requirement for a separate stretchable conductor and simplifies the architecture of the device.
Flexible display with a changing color. Credit: College of English, Columbia
The showcase is straightforward and feels like a firm elastic band. The team added a solid polymer electrolyte and a stretchable encapsulation material called styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) to allow the thin layers of PEDOT to elongate without breaking.
“The expected purposes for this stretchable presentation are huge. It very well may be coordinated into wearable gadgets for biometric observing, considering constant visual input on essential signs. ” Senior author Dr. John Madden, a professor of electrical and computer engineering who oversaw the work, noted that the displays could also be used in robotic skin, enabling robots to display information and interact with humans more naturally.”
Additionally, this technology’s low power consumption and low cost make it appealing for use in disposable applications like medical indicator patches and smart packaging labels for sensitive shipments. Additionally, it could be used to actively alter the color of hats, jackets, and other clothing.
“This breakthrough brings us one step closer to a future where flexible and stretchable displays are a common part of our daily lives,” Dr. Madden added. “While there is a need for more work to integrate this device into everyday devices, this breakthrough brings us one step closer.”
More information: Claire Preston et al, Intrinsically Stretchable Integrated Passive Matrix Electrochromic Display Using PEDOT:PSS Ionic Liquid Composite, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c02902
