Wearable electronics that can be seamlessly integrated into clothing, onto skin, or inside the body, can enable a variety of novel applications within healthcare monitoring, biosensing, biomedical devices and the internet of things. Seamless integration requires matching of the mechanical properties of the electronics to clothing, skin, and tissues, i.e., the electronics need to be soft, flexible, and stretchable. One approach to achieve this is to make all or most components of a device stretchable in themselves by developing functional intrinsically stretchable composites. Such composites are typically based on a filler, which provides electronic or other functionality, and an elastomer matrix, which provides the mechanical properties of the composites. Manufacturing of intrinsically stretchable electronics is challenging and often involve time consuming and tedious fabrication procedures of low throughput, based on chemically harmful monomers and solvents. An alternative approach, printing of electronics, has experienced a boom in the past decade, recently even for stretchable applications. However, despite its appeal, stretchable printed electronic products have yet to reach the consumer market in larger numbers. Screen printing is a versatile printing method that is cost-effective, scalable, can be tailored to use harmless solvents with little waste, and can be made environmentally friendly by careful choice of materials. Furthermore, some applications of stretchable technology – such as implants and on-skin electronics – require conductors that are stable under humid, corrosive, or polluted conditions, which puts even more weight into choices of ink components. In paper I, we protected readily available conducting silver flakes through a thin coating with gold in a low-toxicity water-based process and demonstrated its use in inks for screen printed corrosion-resistant stretchable conductors. The novel silver-gold flake ink was used to fabricate a functional stretchable near-field communication device. Papers II and III both concern entirely screen printed and inherently stretchable devices, utilizing novel stretchable inks in combination with commercial inks to print vertical stacks. Two electrochemical devices – electrochromic displays and organic electrochemical transistors – were printed and tested under stretched conditions to push the limits of how screen printing can be used in applications for thin and stretchable wearable technology. The results show that the devices can retain electrical function even under practically high strains of 50 % (display) and 100 % (transistor). Finally, in paper IV, we investigate the operational principle of gold nanowire- based stretchable composites and find that interactions on the nano-and microscale differ between composites using the same filler but different elastomers. This study sheds light on the importance of the type of elastomer chosen for composites, as this heavily influences the composite’s electrical performance under strain. Altogether, the studies presented in this thesis provide knowledge, materials, and processes that in the long run can contribute to more effective devices within healthcare and other wearable electronics applications.

Two of the hottest research topics today are hybrid nanomaterials and flexible electronics. As such, this book covers both topics with chapters written by experts from across the globe. Chapters address hybrid nanomaterials, electronic transport in black phosphorus, three-dimensional nanocarbon hybrids, hybrid ion exchangers, pressure-sensitive adhesives for flexible electronics, simulation and modeling of transistors, smart manufacturing technologies, and inorganic semiconductors.

Provides the state-of-the-art on wearable technology for smart clothing The book gives a coherent overview of recent development on flexible electronics for smart clothing with emphasis on wearability and durability of the materials and devices. It offers detailed information on the basic functional components of the flexible and wearable electronics including sensing, systems-on-a-chip, interacting, and energy, as well as the integrating and connecting of electronics into textile form. It also provides insights into the compatibility and integration of functional materials, electronics, and the clothing technology. Flexible and Wearable Electronics for Smart Clothing offers comprehensive coverage of the technology in four parts. The first part discusses wearable organic nano-sensors, stimuli-responsive electronic skins, and flexible thermoelectrics and thermoelectric textiles. The next part examines textile triboelectric nanogenerators for energy harvesting, flexible and wearable solar cells and supercapacitors, and flexible and wearable lithium-ion batteries. Thermal and humid management for next-generation textiles, functionalization of fiber materials for washable smart wearable textiles, and flexible microfluidics for wearable electronics are covered in the next section. The last part introduces readers to piezoelectric materials and devices based flexible bio-integrated electronics, printed electronics for smart clothes, and the materials and processes for stretchable and wearable e-textile devices. -Presents the most recent developments in wearable technology such as wearable nanosensors, logic circuit, artificial intelligence, energy harvesting, and wireless communication -Covers the flexible and wearable electronics as essential functional components for smart clothing from sensing, systems-on-a-chip, interacting, energy to the integrating and connecting of electronics -Of high interest to a large and interdisciplinary target group, including materials scientists, textile chemists, and electronic engineers in academia and industry Flexible and Wearable Electronics for Smart Clothing will appeal to materials scientists, textile industry professionals, textile engineers, electronics engineers, and sensor developers.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to printed flexible electronics and their applications, including the basics of modern printing technologies, printable inks, performance characterization, device design, modeling, and fabrication processes. A wide range of materials used for printed flexible electronics are also covered in depth. Bridging the gap between the creation of structure and function, printed flexible electronics have been explored for manufacturing of flexible, stretchable, wearable, and conformal electronics device with conventional, 3D, and hybrid printing technologies. Advanced materials such as polymers, ceramics, nanoparticles, 2D materials, and nanocomposites have enabled a wide variety of applications, such as transparent conductive films, thin film transistors, printable solar cells, flexible energy harvesting and storage devices, electroluminescent devices, and wearable sensors. This book provides students, researchers and engineers with the information to understand the current status and future trends in printed flexible electronics, and acquire skills for selecting and using materials and additive manufacturing processes in the design of printed flexible electronics.

This book provides an overview of the newly emerged and highly interdisciplinary field of printed electronics • Provides an overview of the latest developments and research results in the field of printed electronics • Topics addressed include: organic printable electronic materials, inorganic printable electronic materials, printing processes and equipments for electronic manufacturing, printable transistors, printable photovoltaic devices, printable lighting and display, encapsulation and packaging of printed electronic devices, and applications of printed electronics • Discusses the principles of the above topics, with support of examples and graphic illustrations • Serves both as an advanced introductory to the topic and as an aid for professional development into the new field • Includes end of chapter references and links to further reading

This book presents recent advances in the design, fabrication and implementation of flexible printed sensors. It explores a range of materials for developing the electrode and substrate parts of the sensors, on the basis of their electrical and mechanical characteristics. The sensors were processed using laser cutting and 3D printing techniques, and the sensors developed were employed in a number of healthcare, environmental and industrial applications, including: monitoring of physiological movements, respiration, salinity and nitrate measurement, and tactile sensing. The type of sensor selected for each application depended on its dimensions, robustness and sensitivity. The sensors fabricated were also embedded in an IoT-based system, allowing them to be integrated into real-time applications.

Remarkable progress has been achieved within recent years in developing flexible, wearable, and stretchable (FWS) electronics. These electronics will play an increasingly significant role in the future of electronics and will open new product paradigms that conventional semiconductors are not capable of. This is because flexible electronics will allow us to build flexible circuits and devices on a substrate that can be bent, stretched, or folded without losing functionality. This revolutionary change will impact how we interact with the world around us. Future electronic devices will use flexible electronics as part of ambient intelligence and ubiquitous computing for many different applications such as consumer electronics, medical, healthcare, and security devices. Thus, these devices have the potential to create a huge market all over the world. Flexible, Wearable, and Stretchable Electronics, provide a comprehensive technological review of the state-of-the-art developments in FWS electronics. This book offers the reader a taste of what is possible with FWS electronics and describes how these electronics can provide unique solutions for a wide variety of applications. Furthermore, the book introduces and explains new applications of flexible technology that has opened up the future of FWS electronics.

With the recently well developed areas of Internet of Thing, consumer wearable gadgets and artificial intelligence, flexible and stretchable electronic devices have spurred great amount of interest from both the global scientific and industrial communities. As an emerging technology, flexible and stretchable electronics requires the scale-span fabrication of devices involving nano-features, microstructures and macroscopic large area manufacturing. The key factor behind covers the organic, inorganic and nano materials that exhibit completely different mechanical and electrical properties, as well as the accurate interfacial control between these components. Based on the fusion of chemistry, physics, biology, materials science and information technology, this review volume will try to offer a timely and comprehensive overview on the flexible and stretchable electronic materials and devices. The book will cover the working principle, materials selection, device fabrication and applications of electronic components of transistors, solar cells, memories, sensors, supercapacitors, circuits and etc.

Flexibility and stretchability of electronics are crucial for next generation electronic devices that involve skin contact sensing and therapeutic actuation. This handbook provides a complete entrée to the field, from solid-state physics to materials chemistry, processing, devices, performance, and reliability testing, and integrated systems development. This work shows how microelectronics, signal processing, and wireless communications in the same circuitry are impacting electronics, healthcare, and energy applications. Key Features: • Covers the fundamentals to device applications, including solid-state and mechanics, chemistry, materials science, characterization techniques, and fabrication; • Offers a comprehensive base of knowledge for moving forward in this field, from foundational research to technology development; • Focuses on processing, characterization, and circuits and systems integration for device applications; • Addresses the basic physical properties and mechanics, as well as the nuts and bolts of reliability and performance analysis; • Discusses various technology applications, from printed electronics to logic and memory devices, sensors, actuators, displays, and energy storage and harvesting. This handbook will serve as the one-stop knowledge base for readership who are interested in flexible and stretchable electronics.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Flexible and Stretchable Electronics" that was published in Micromachines