Beast Tech | Transparent Electronic Tattoos Developed

The "miracle" material, graphene, has now been integrated into electronic tattoos. This has created a rather large advance in the science behind e-tattoos. It has increased functions the usefulness of the flexible tattoos.

Graphene Composite Transparent Electronic Tattoos Developed

New materials engineering professor Park Jang-woong at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) professor Bae Byung-soo, and Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) Director Choo Hye-yong announced on Oct. 20 that their research team developed an advanced transparent graphene electrode production technique with which electrical characteristics can be maintained even after folding or pulling.

According to the team, the electrode can be used to make micro-mini transparent electronic circuits that can be easily attached to the skin, glass, leaves, or other delicate objects. When used with the human skin, the circuit functions as a transparent electronic tattoo like a sticker, for display purposes or bio-signal measurement.

During the research process, a graphene composite was used to lower the resistance of the transparent electrode to approximately 1/20th of existing ones. This means that the electronic tattoo can be utilized as a component of flexible displays or in circuits and sensors.

The team succeeded in addressing the problem by combining graphene with a metallic fiber. The fiber, as long as several meters, reduced the connection resistance, so smooth electron movement was ensured within the graphene composite.

Semiconductor processes already in wide use were adopted for the production of the composite, and thus the electrode patterns could be obtained with ease.

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