|
Post to: del.icio.us | Digg | Technorati | Slashdot | Yahoo! MyWeb | Netscape
NON-CONFIDENTIAL DESCRIPTION
Photosensitive composite materials possessing both high electrical conductivity and microfabrication processability.
Technology Description
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is widely used in a variety of biological and medical applications. PDMS also shows excellent electrical conductivity when mixed with highly conductive fillers, such as inorganic powders. However, current PDMS molding methods are unsuitable for applications in the area of electrical sensing and flexible circuits. UC Davis researchers have recently discovered an alternative approach to PDMS processing that makes PDMS directly photopatternable.
Applications
Flexible electronics, biological sensing and medical diagnosis.
Advantages
The discovered process eliminates the need for a master mold and provides a low-cost rapid-prototyping method of polymeric microfabrication independent of a conventional cleanroom environment.
Benefits include: -
Possible to make a composite
-
Better match with layers
-
Flexible, up to 150% elongation
-
Possible to tailor the properties
Customized properties include: -
Biological or chemical reactivity (e.g., a conductive polymer
could generate an electrical field to provide signaling to cells;
antibacterial qualities; catalyst for chemical reactions)
-
Thermal conductivity
-
Mechanical flexibility
-
Optical transparency (e.g., solar cell applications)
References
Smart contact lens feels the pressure of glaucoma
July 9, 2008 / Colin Barras / NewScientistTech
Hailin Cong and Tingrui Pan. 2008. Photopatternable Conductive PDMS Materials for Microfabrication. Advanced Functional Materials. Volume 18 Issue 13, Pages 1912 - 1921.
Patent Status
| United States | Patent Pending |
Additional Technology by these inventors
|
