The ability to measure subtle changes in arterial pressure using devices mounted on the skin can be valuable for monitoring vital signs in emergency care, detecting the early onset of cardiovascular disease and continuously assessing health status. Conventional technologies are well suited for use in traditional clinical settings, but cannot be easily adapted for sustained use during daily activities. Here we introduce a conformal device that avoids these limitations. Ultrathin inorganic piezoelectric and semiconductor materials on elastomer substrates enable amplified, low hysteresis measurements of pressure on the skin, with high levels of sensitivity (B0.005 Pa) and fast response times (B0.1 ms). Experimental and theoretical studies reveal enhanced piezoelectric responses in lead zirconate titanate that follow from integration on soft supports as well as engineering behaviours of the associated devices. Calibrated measurements of pressure variations of blood flow in near-surface arteries demonstrate capabilities for measuring radial artery augmentation index and pulse pressure velocity.
The rapid advancements of wearable electronics have caused a paradigm shift in consumer electronics, and the emerging development of stretchable electronics opens a new spectrum of applications for electronic systems. Playing a critical role as the power sources for independent electronic systems, energy harvesters with high flexibility or stretchability have been the focus of research efforts over the past decade. A large number of the flexible energy harvesters developed can only operate at very low strain level (≈0.1%), and their limited flexibility impedes their application in wearable or stretchable electronics. Here, the development of highly flexible and stretchable (stretchability >15% strain) energy harvesters is reviewed with emphasis on strategies of materials synthesis, device fabrication, and integration schemes for enhanced flexibility and stretchability. Due to their particular potential applications in wearable and stretchable electronics, energy-harvesting devices based on piezoelectricity, triboelectricity, thermoelectricity, and dielectric elastomers have been largely developed and the progress is summarized. The challenges and opportunities of assembly and integration of energy harvesters into stretchable systems are also discussed.
Inkjet printing, known as digital writing technique, can directly deposit functional materials to form pattern onto substrate. This paper provides an overview of inkjet printing technologies for flexible electronics. Firstly, we highlight materials challenges in implementing flexible devices into practical application, especially for inkjet printing process. Then the micro/nano-patterning technologies of inkjet printing are discussed, including conventional inkjet printing techniques and electrohydrodynamic printing techniques. Thirdly, the related equipments on inkjet printing are shown. Finally, challenges for its future development are also discussed. The main purpose of the work is to condense the basic knowledge and highlight the challenges associated with the burgeoning and exciting field of inkjet printing for flexible electronics.flexible electronics, nanomanufacturing, organic thin film transistor, micro/nano-patterning, inkjet printing, electrohydynamics, roll-to-roll Citation: Overview of flexible electronics technologyFlexible electronics, also known as printable/organic electronics, represent a technology for building electronic circuits by depositing electronic devices onto flexible substrates. Realization of flexible electronics with performance equal to conventional microelectronics built on brittle semiconductor wafers, but in high mobilities, optical transparency, light-weight, stretchable/bendable formats and easy to print rapidly over large areas would enable many new applications [1-4] not satisfied by a traditional rigid electronics. The applications vary from medicine and biology to energy technology and space science [1,2], such as flexible display [4,5], thin film solar cell [6,7], large area sensors and actuators [8,9], shown in Figure 1. These applications are based on thin film transistors (TFTs) which have strong materials and processes contents. Flexible electronics *Corresponding authors (have open boundaries that move with its development and applications and is a highly interdisciplinary field. As a result, there are considerable opportunities for innovation and basic scientific research into new types of electronic materials, processes and equipments.The flexibility, a critical issue in flexible electronics, is one of the most important differences from traditional microelectronics. Polymer organics and inorganic materials are the two kind of materials adopted in flexible electronics. The polymer organics are generally believed to be well suited for these applications and naturally compatible with polymeric substrates. However, the electrical properties is not ideal when devices are fabricated with polymer organics. This leads to interest in the possibility of inorganic based flexible electronics [10]. It is a challenge to design a bendable and stretchable electronics based on inorganic materials due to their small fracture strain. The most basic realization is thin films of the inorganics are adopted as semiconductors, conductors and/or insulators on substrates to mini-
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