• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.19-28
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• 2016

This paper presents an overview of selected advanced measurement technologies for the mechanical properties of polymers used for flexible and stretchable electronic packaging. Over the years, a variety of flexible and stretchable electronics have been developed due to their potential applications for next generation IT industry. To achieve more flexible and wearable devices for practical applications, the usage of polymeric components has been increased significantly. Therefore, accurate measurement of mechanical properties of the polymers is necessary in order to design mechanically reliable devices. However, the measurement has been challenging due to the soft nature and thin applications of polymers. Here, we describe novel measurement technologies of mechanical properties of polymers for flexible and stretchable electronics.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2018

Currently, functional patterns are formed by screen printing on stretchable films, and they are applied to wearable and stretchable devices. In this study, three types of silver paste were prepared using three polyester binders with different Tg and molecular weights in order to impart elasticity to the conductive pattern itself. Rheological properties and DSC measurements were performed for each silver paste. Then, each silver paste was screen printing and cured by an IR dryer to evaluate adhesive strength, pencil hardness, resistance and surface shape change according to strain. As a result, it was found that the silver paste using a binder with a low Tg and a high molecular weight has the smallest resistance change depending on the strain. Namely, it was found that it is most preferable to use a binder with a low Tg and a high molecular weight as the stretchable electrode.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.272-281
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• 2012

Flexible/stretchable electronics have recently focused, since their applications extend to emerging flexible displays, sensors, dielectric elastomer actuator and generators, and smart surgical tools. Flexible/stretchable electrodes should be synchronized with employing mechanical deformations of either flexing or stretching modes. Thus, the research area is one of the tough subjects, since the electrodes should keep their basic functions of electrodes under various mode of mechanical deformations. In this review, we discuss the recent development in the preparation and properties of such flexible/stretchable electrodes.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.525-530
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• 2023

Stretchable piezoelectric energy harvester (S-PEHs) based on composite materials are considered one of the potential candidates for realizing wearable self-powered devices for smart clothing and electronic skin. However, low energy conversion performance and expensive stretchable electrodes are major bottlenecks hindering the development and application of S-PEHs. Here, we fabricated the S-PEH by adopting the piezoelectric composites with enhanced stress transfer properties and kirigami-patterned textile electrodes. The optimum contents of piezoelectric BaTiO₃ nanoparticles inside the carbon nanotube/ecoflex composite were selected as 30 wt% considering the trade-off between stretchability and energy harvesting performance of the device. The final S-PEH shows an output voltage and mechanical stability of ~5 V and ~3,000 cycles under repeated 150% of tensile strain, respectively. This work presents a cost-effective and scalable way to fabricate stretchable piezoelectric devices for self-powered wearable electronic systems.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2023

Stretchable and flexible electronics that comply with dynamic movements and micromotion of the human tissues can enable real-time monitoring of physiologic signals onto the human skin and in the brain, respectively. Especially, gallium based liquid metal stretchable electronics can offer human-interactive biosensors to monitor various physiologic parameters. However, the liquid-like nature, surface oxidation and contamination by organic materials, and low biostability of the liquid metals have still limited the long-term use as bioelectronics. Here we introduced electrochemical deposition without oxidation pathways to overcome these practical challenges in liquid metal bioelectronics. CNT/PDDA composite with reduction way and PEDOT:BF₄ with oxidation way under organic solvent are suggested as rationally designed material engineering approaches. We confirmed that the structures with the soft, flexible, and stretchable liquid metal platform can successfully detect dopamine with a high sensitivity and selectivity, record neural signals including action potentials without scar formation, and monitor physiologic signals such as EMG and ECG.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.5-8
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• 2018

In this paper, plasma treatment effects on a ploy(dimethyl siloxane) substrate were analyzed for the applications of stretchable silver nanowire (Ag NWs) electrodes. The oxygen plasma treated sample shows the best performance compared to nitrogen treated and untreated samples. The lowest sheet resistance and reasonable stretching capability was achieved up to 20% strain condition without open circuit fail for the oxygen plasma treated sample.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.351.1-351.1
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• 2016

While conventional electronic devices have been fabricated on the rigid and brittle Si based wafer as a semiconducting substrate, future devices are increasingly finding applications where flexibility and stretchability are further integrated to enable emerging and wearable devices. To achieve high flexibility and stretchability, various approaches are investigated such as polymer based conducting composite, thin metal films on the polymer substrate, and structural modifications for stretchable electronics. In spite of many efforts, it is still a challenge to identify a solution that offers both high stretchability and superior electrical properties. In this paper, we introduce a highly stretchable entangled-mesh graphene showing a potential to address such requirements as stretchability and good electrical performance. Entangle-mesh graphene was synthesized by CVD graphene on the Cu foil. To analyze the mechanical properties of entangled-mesh graphene, endurance and stretching tester have been used.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2015

Recently, advances in nano-material researches have opened the door for various transparent conductive materials, which include carbon nanotube, graphene, Ag and Cu nanowire, and printable metal grids. Among them, Ag nanowires are particularly interesting to synthesize because bulk Ag exhibits the highest electrical conductivity among all metals. Here we reviewed recently-published research works introducing various devices from organic light emitting diode to tactile sensing devices, all of which are employing AgNW for a conducting material. They proposed methods to enhance the stretchability and reversibility of the transparent electrodes, and apply them to make various flexible and stretchable electronics. It is expected that Ag nanowires are applicable to a wide range of high-performance, low-cost, stretchable electronic devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.29-29
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• 2008

Realization of electronics with performance equal to established technologies that use rigid semiconductor wafers, but in lightweight, foldable and stretchable formats would enable many new application possibilities. Examples include wearable systems for personal health monitoring, 'smart' surgical gloves with integrated electronics and electronic eye type imagers that incorporate focal plane arrays on hemispherical substrates. Circuits that use organic or certain classes of inorganic electronic materials on plastic or steel foil substrates can provide some degree of mechanical flexibility, but they cannot be folded or stretched. Also, with few exceptions such systems offer only modest electrical performance. In this talk, I will present a new approach to high performance, flexible and stretchable integrated circuits. These systems combine single-crystal silicon nanoribbons with thin plastic or elastomeric substrates using both "top-down" and "transfer-printing" technologies. The strategies represent promising routes to high performance, flexible and stretchable optoelectronic devices that can incorporate established, high performance inorganic electronic materials.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.23-36
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• 2019

Stretchable electronic systems have recently been gaining more and more attention because of their potential applications in various implements such as electronic skins and wearable/shape-deformable electronics. An essential factor of the stable stretchable device implementation is that all the elements constituting the system must have sufficient elasticity and exhibit stable performances even under repetitive stretching conditions. In this paper, we review the latest research results to secure the stable stretchability of electrodes among the various components of the system.