60秒科学:Window Stickers Lead To Stretchy Electronics

Window Stickers Lead To Stretchy Electronics

Engineers would love to embed¹ flexible electronics into things like paper, or surgical² gloves or conventional clothing. But the wiring usually gets twisted and damaged. Now MIT researchers have found inspiration in an unlikely place—the annoying air pockets that pop up in parking pass stickers on car windows.

Those bubbles arise because the thin sticker film expands at a different rate than the window glass when they both heat up. And the opposite is also true—the material can compress differently than the glass until it separates and blisters³ form.

The scientists were studying this kind of wrinkling behavior. They developed a model that predicted the formation, size and evolution of the bubbles that depends on three things: the elasticity⁵ of the film and the glass, and the strength of the bond between them.

Then they realized that carefully controlled delamination could be applied⁶ to make elastic⁴ electronics. Wires in the bubbly elastic material would start out only partially⁷ attached to a surface. So there’d be some slack allowing for safe stretching and twisting. The work appears in the Proceedings⁸ of the National Academy of Sciences, and shows that a different approach can make a tough problem less sticky.

—Cynthia Graber

 

1 embed   

vt.把…嵌(埋、插)入，扎牢；使深留脑中

参考例句：

• The harpoon struck but did not embed.鱼叉击中了但并没有插入。
• This photo showed us how did the root of plant embed the soil deeply.这张照片显示植物的根是如何深入到土壤里去的。

2 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

3 blisters   

n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡

参考例句：

• My new shoes have made blisters on my heels. 我的新鞋把我的脚跟磨起泡了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His new shoes raised blisters on his feet. 他的新鞋把他的脚磨起了水疱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 elastic   

n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的

参考例句：

• Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
• These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。

5 elasticity   

n.弹性，伸缩力

参考例句：

• The skin eventually loses its elasticity.皮肤最终会失去弹性。
• Every sort of spring has a definite elasticity.每一种弹簧都有一定的弹性。

6 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

7 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

8 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼