Conductive tracks are usually hard printed on a board. But those recently developed at EPFL are altogether different: they are almost as flexible as rubber and can be stretched up to four times their original length and in all directions. And they can be stretched a million times without cracking or interrupting their conductivity.
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Ref: Intrinsically Stretchable Biphasic (Solid–Liquid) Thin Metal Films. Advanced Materials (29 February 2016) | DOI: 10.1002/adma.201506234
ABSTRACT
Stretchable biphasic conductors are formed by physical vapor deposition of gallium onto an alloying metal film. The properties of the photolithography-compatible thin metal films are highlighted by low sheet resistance (0.5 Ω sq−1) and large stretchability (400%). This novel approach to deposit and pattern liquid metals enables extremely robust, multilayer and soft circuits, sensors, and actuators.
