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Purdue researchers building flexible and folding electronics

Because of the efforts of some Purdue researchers, flat and bulky electronics could give way to flexible and foldable ones.

The researchers have found a way to successfully produce transistors from carbon nanotubes. The technology, referred to as "nanonets," could open up many possibilities for the future of electronics on flexible and bendable substrates.

Kaushik Roy, Roscoe H. George professor of electrical and computer engineering, said the transistors can be placed in materials like glass and plastic. Because the nanonets can be fabricated at low temperatures, there is no risk of the plastic melting. If the transistors are put on plastics, circuits can be used in flexible and foldable devices. It is "almost like a paper."

There are other advantages to the nanonets.