While there have been some intriguing developments recently in the field of stretchable electronics and flexible OLED displays, one thing we haven't heard much about is stretchable displays. So, is it possible to make a screened device in which every part of it could be stretched? The answer could now be yes, with news that researchers from UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated a stretchable polymer light-emitting device.
The metal-free, transparent devices can reportedly be fabricated through a simple roll lamination process, that utilizes two layers of single-walled carbon nanotube/polymer composite electrodes, sandwiching a layer of stretchable light-emitting plastic. According to UCLA: "The interpenetrating networks of nanotubes and the polymer matrix in the surface layer of the composites lead to low sheet resistance, high transparency, high compliance and low surface roughness."
The devices are presently capable of emitting a blue light even when linearly stretched by up to 45 percent.
The research was recently published in the journal Advanced Materials.
Source: Technology Review