Flexible

A study conducted at Columbia University has revealed that even when stitched together from much smaller fragments, large sheets of graphene still retain much of their mechanical properties. The discovery may be a crucial step forward in the mass-production of carbon nanotubes that could be used to manufacture flexible electronics, ultra-light and strong materials, and perhaps even the first space elevator.  Read More

Most 3D-printed objects are made out of rigid plastic or resin materials that aren't necessarily ideal for every project. Now, for a limited time online shops like i.materialise are offering designers the chance to play with experimental materials that have properties akin to rubber. Currently these materials are only being offered on a limited basis, but they're already paving the way for new ideas, including one haute couture dress that paraded down the catwalk at Spring Fashion Week 2013 earlier this year.  Read More

Shapeways, one of the biggest names in 3D printing, is adding a new squishy plastic material called Elasto Plastics to its available printing options. This new material offers some interesting applications for anything wearable, specifically for sandals and other kinds of footwear.  Read More

Some of the most vividly colored materials in nature, including things like butterfly wings, don’t obtain their color from pigment. Instead, their internal structure reflects light at a given wavelength, producing a specific color. Opals are another example of something that utilizes this effect. In collaboration with Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability, scientists from the University of Cambridge have now copied the colorful nanostructure of the opal. The result is a flexible, colorful material that won’t fade over time, that changes color when stretched, and that could have many applications.  Read More

Transparent electrodes are in and of themselves nothing all that new – they’re currently used in things like touchscreens and flat-screen TVs. Thanks to research being conducted at Indiana’s Purdue University, however, a new class of such electrodes may soon find use in a variety of other applications, including flexible electronic devices.  Read More

While we hear a lot about flexible electronics that can be gently bent, how about ones that could actually be folded up? Things like the recently-developed graphite-based paper circuits definitely show promise, but now researchers from Illinois-based Northwestern University have taken another step forward – they’ve created graphene-based inkjet-printable ink.  Read More

A typical iPhone charging cable is between half a meter and a meter in length, and has a slim cord that is prone to tangles and is not particularly hard-wearing. This combination is fine for most users and most situations, but Trunk offers an alternative to the norm.  Read More

Given the low costs and extensive applications that could be possible with flexible paper circuit boards, we've seen many ideas for their production, from printing with silver ink to embedding chips within paper. Now, however, scientists have developed an elegant method for selectively changing the very nature of the paper itself into conductive graphite. Unlike polymer-based flexible circuits, these paper circuits are, ironically, able to withstand the high temperatures generally used in the production of electronics.  Read More

Researchers at Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab have developed a prototype smartphone that uses shape-changing capabilities to let the user know of an incoming call, text or email. Built around a thin, flexible electrophoretic display manufactured by Plastic Logic, the MorePhone can curl its entire body to indicate a call, or curl up to three individual corners to indicate a particular message.  Read More