Stretchable solar cells and other flexible electronic devices can celebrate the making of a material developed by three institutions from Germany and Japan called the “silver particle-containing polyurethane base electric wiring.”
The new material is very resistant to stretching and keeps its conductive properties even after it’s been stretched seven times.
The scientists from Bayer MaterialScience AG combined a polyurethane dispersion called “Dispercoll U42” with the dispersion technology for metal particles and the printing technology for electric wiring developed by Osaka University of Japan.
Thus far, there have been multiple solutions for making conductive materials stretchable, but none resisted to more than two times. It’s an important step for organic solar cells and thin film solar cells, since they have to be stretchable and bendable by nature.
Their manufacturers already use roll-to-roll technologies that should make them easily printable, using newspaper-like printing.
Other uses include artificial muscles, artificial skins and healthcare devices that require such properties.
