A flexible chip as thin as a human hair could pave the way for a new generation of electronic wearable clothing, according to a new study.
Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, have built complex electronic circuits inside thin, flexible fibres. When woven into fabric, these ‘fibre chips’ could process information and handle data to enable clothing to work like a computer.
As the fibre chips are closed loops – containing power, sensors and processors in one string – they are able to function as independent intelligent systems without any external hardware.
This could lead to a new generation of even smarter wearables for use in a range of applications such as health monitoring and interactive clothing.
At 50 micrometres in diameter (the average human hair is around 70 micrometres) they are also thin enough to be used in medical applications for smart implants.
Computer chips are traditionally rigid and brittle, making them difficult to bend or fold. To overcome this issue...