SFBA Nanotechnology Seminar – Nanomaterial-Enabled Soft Electronics

Nanomaterial-Enabled Soft Electronics by Prof Yong Zhu, Andrew A. Adams Distinguished Professor North Carolina State University (NCSU)

Date and time

Thu, October 13, 2022, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM PDT

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sfba-nanotechnology-seminar-nanomaterial-enabled-soft-electronics-tickets-420099277247

About this event

Soft electronics takes a leap beyond Si-based rigid electronics. They are made of ultrathin, compliant, and stretchable materials, already with broad applications from personal health monitoring to prosthetics to human-machine interfaces. Metal nanowires, in particular silver nanowire (AgNWs), have emerged as a promising soft electronic material.

In this talk, I will discuss the recent advances in AgNW-based soft electronics and soft robotics. I will start with highly conductive and stretchable AgNW electrodes, followed with a variety of wearable sensors for monitoring of human physiology and motions (e.g., strain, pressure, temperature, hydration, ECG, and EMG). I will discuss their application in personal healthcare and sports.

Manufacturing is a critical enabling step for developing AgNW-based soft electronic devices. I will discuss our recent efforts in scalable and sustainable nanomanufacturing.

Soft robotics have recently received tremendous interests. I will briefly discuss the AgNW-based soft heater and bimorph actuator and their application in soft robotics. I highlight a recent strategy employing mechanical bistability to significantly increase the speed of the thermally actuated soft robots.

Yong Zhu is the Andrew Adams Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, with affiliate appointments in Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, at North Carolina State University.
He received his BS degree from the University of Science and Technology of China and MS and PhD degrees from Northwestern University. After completing his postdoctoral training at the University of Texas at Austin he joined NC State University in 2007 as an Assistant Professor.
His group conducts research at the intersection of mechanics of materials and micro/nano-technology, including nanomaterial-enabled flexible, stretchable and wearable electronics.
His work has been recognized with numerous awards including James R. Rice Medal from the Society of Engineering Science, Bessel Research Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award, and Best Wearable Material/Component Development Award at IDTechEx Wearable USA