Flexible Circuits From Carbon Nanotubes

Random networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes can be used to construct high-performance integrated digital circuits on flexible plastic substrates, according to a new study (Nature 2008, 454, 495). The work advances the possibility of developing low-cost electronic displays and other devices that are more flexible, lightweight, and shock resistant than similar devices based on traditional silicon wafers or other rigid substrates. Earlier work in several labs has focused on developing flexible circuitry by using semiconducting small organic molecules and various types of polymers. Compared with electronics based on those materials, the carbon-nanotube circuits—designed and fabricated by John A. Rogers of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and coworkers—show superior charge-carrier mobilities, operating voltages, switching speeds, and other electronic properties. George Grüner, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA, calls Rogers' work a proof-of-concept experiment. These flexible circuits could become "a paradigm-changing technology," Grüner says.