弹性电池为弹性显示器供电

新材料有助于制造有弹性且能量密度足够大的电池来为这种可变形、可植入或者可携带电子的显示器供电。传统的充电锂离子电池所采用的高性能材料没有弹性,而大多数可弯曲的材料又不能储存足够的能量来运行显示器。有弹性电池基板材料,如塑料、纸、或纺织品,都不能承受建立电极的     

柔性价值和柔性成本分析

技术进步步伐的加快和顾客对产品需求的频繁变化，要求企业进行生产系统投资时必须考虑不确定性环境对生产系统提出的柔性化要求。通过对柔性价值和柔性成本的分析，探讨了在生产系统投资决策时，如何选择适当的柔性水平以使生产系统达到整个寿命周期内利润的最大化。     

Flexible composites

This paper reviews the linear and non-linear elastic behaviour of flexible composites, which are based on elastomeric polymers and exhibit a usable range of deformation much larger than those of conventional thermosetting or thermoplastic polymer-based composites. The types of flexible composites examined are cord/rubber composites, coated fabrics and composites containing wavy fibres. The classical lamination theory forms the basis of analysing the linear elastic behaviour. Three analytical approaches have been developed for predicting the nonlinear elastic behaviour. The advancement in the predicability of analytical models enhances the utilization of flexible composites as load-bearing structural composites. The versatility of flexible composites in engineering applications lies in the fact that their load-deformation behaviour can be tailored by suitable selection of fibre/matrix systems and the design of fibre geometric configuration.     

Flexible electronic eardrum

Flexible mechanosensors with a high sensitivity and fast response speed may advance the wearable and implantable applications of healthcare devices,such as real-time heart rate,pulse,and respiration monitoring.In this paper,we introduce a novel flexible electronic eardrum (EE) based on single-walled carbon nanotubes,polyethylene,and polydimethylsiloxane with micro-structured pyramid arrays.The EE device shows a high sensitivity,high signal-to-noise ratio (approximately 55 dB),and fast response time (76.9 μs) in detecting and recording sound within a frequency domain of 20-13,000 Hz.The mechanism for sound detection is investigated and the sensitivity is determined using the micro-structure,thickness,and strain state.We also demonstrated that the device is able to distinguish human voices.This unprecedented performance of the flexible electronic eardrum has implications for many applications such as implantable acoustical bioelectronics and personal voice recognition.     

因地制宜的软包装

消费者对包装便携性和能更好保存食品口味的需求，使软包装必须采用更加具有适应性和创新性的包装材料和包装形式。这里要讲的创新包括微波包装袋、蒸煮袋、“可呼吸”软包装袋等。     

Flexible ultrasonic transducers

Flexible ultrasonic transducers (UTs) consisting of a metal foil, a piezoelectric ceramic film, and a top electrode have been developed. The flexibility is realized owing to the porosity of piezoelectric film and the thinness of metal foil. In this paper, the stainless steel (SS), lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT)/PZT composite and silver paste were chosen as metal foil, piezoelectric film, and top electrode materials, respectively. The SS foil serves as both substrate and bottom electrode. The PZT/PZT piezoelectric composite film is made by the sol-gel spray technique. PZT/PZT films of thicknesses from 40 to 70 microm were fabricated onto SS foils. The capability of these flexible sensors operated in the pulse-echo mode for nondestructive testing on flat and curved surfaces of different materials at room temperature and 160 degrees C has been demonstrated. Numerical simulations of the effects of the metal foil thickness on the ultrasonic performance of flexible UTs also were carried out, and the results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data. In addition, a PZT/PZT flexible transducer showed a signal strength comparable with that obtained by a commercial room temperature broad bandwidth transducer.     

Flexible composite transducers

Flexible PZT/polymer composite transducers have been fabricated with a novel microstructural configuration. The concept of connectivity has been applied in the evaluation of the type of structure needed to optimize the properties of the composite. Properties of several kinds of piezoelectric transducers are compared.     

Natural Flexible Dermal Armor

Fish, reptiles, and mammals can possess flexible dermal armor for protection. Here we seek to find the means by which Nature derives its protection by examining the scales from several fish (Atractosteus spatula, Arapaima gigas, Polypterus senegalus, Morone saxatilis, Cyprinius carpio), and osteoderms from armadillos, alligators, and leatherback turtles. Dermal armor has clearly been developed by convergent evolution in these different species. In general, it has a hierarchical structure with collagen fibers joining more rigid units (scales or osteoderms), thereby increasing flexibility without significantly sacrificing strength, in contrast to rigid monolithic mineral composites. These dermal structures are also multifunctional, with hydrodynamic drag (in fish), coloration for camouflage or intraspecies recognition, temperature and fluid regulation being other important functions. The understanding of such flexible dermal armor is important as it may provide a basis for new synthetic, yet bioinspired, armor materials.     

Flexible piezotronic strain sensor

Strain sensors based on individual ZnO piezoelectric fine-wires (PFWs; nanowires, microwires) have been fabricated by a simple, reliable, and cost-effective technique. The electromechanical sensor device consists of a single electrically connected PFW that is placed on the outer surface of a flexible polystyrene (PS) substrate and bonded at its two ends. The entire device is fully packaged by a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin layer. The PFW has Schottky contacts at its two ends but with distinctly different barrier heights. The I- V characteristic is highly sensitive to strain mainly due to the change in Schottky barrier height (SBH), which scales linear with strain. The change in SBH is suggested owing to the strain induced band structure change and piezoelectric effect. The experimental data can be well-described by the thermionic emission-diffusion model. A gauge factor of as high as 1250 has been demonstrated, which is 25% higher than the best gauge factor demonstrated for carbon nanotubes. The strain sensor developed here has applications in strain and stress measurements in cell biology, biomedical sciences, MEMS devices, structure monitoring, and more.     

Flexible molecular-scale electronic devices

Flexible materials and devices could be exploited in light-emitting diodes, electronic circuits, memory devices, sensors, displays, solar cells and bioelectronic devices. Nanoscale elements such as thin films, nanowires, nanotubes and nanoparticles can also be incorporated into the active films of mechanically flexible devices. Large-area devices containing extremely thin films of molecular materials represent the ultimate scaling of flexible devices based on organic materials, but the influence of bending and twisting on the electrical and mechanical stability of such devices has never been examined. Here, we report the fabrication and characterization of two-terminal electronic devices based on self-assembled monolayers of alkyl or aromatic thiol molecules on flexible substrates. We find that the charge transport characteristics of the devices remain stable under severe bending conditions (radius?≤?1?mm) and a large number of repetitive bending cycles (≥1,000). The devices also remain reliable in various bending configurations, including twisted and helical structures.