Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to prevent hydrogels from dehydrating, with a technique that could lead to longer-lasting contact lenses, stretchy microfluidic devices, flexible bioelectronics and even artificial skin.
The Universal Display Corporation (Ewing (NJ), USA), enabling energy-efficient displays and lighting with its UniversalPHOLED technology and materials, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Adesis, Inc., a privately held contract research organisation with 43 employees based in New Castle (DE), USA. It specialises in organic and organometallic synthetic research, development and commercialisation. Adesis is a critical technology vendor to companies in the pharmaceutical, fine chemical, biomaterials, and catalyst industries, and has worked with Universal Display over the last few years to help advance and accelerate a number of Universal Display’s product offerings.
Scientists from South Korea have made ultra-thin photovoltaics flexible enough to wrap around the average pencil. The bendy solar cells could power wearable electronics like fitness trackers and smart glasses. Thin materials flex more easily than thick ones – think a piece of paper versus a cardboard shipping box. The reason for the difference: The stress in a material while it is being bent increases farther out from the central plane. Because thick sheets have more material farther out, they are harder to bend.
