Carbon nanotubes bring 'flexible electronics' with longer battery life closer to reality

Discovery of "carbon nanotube" can lead to flexible electronics with longer battery life, it has been reported.

University of Wisconsin-Madison materials engineers have made a significant leap toward creating higher-performance electronics with improved battery life, and the ability to flex and stretch.

Led by materials science Associate Professor Michael Arnold and Professor Padma Gopalan, the team has reported the highest-performing carbon nanotube transistors ever demonstrated. In addition to paving the way for improved consumer electronics, this technology could also have specific uses in industrial and military applications.

Arnold, Gopalan and their students reported transistors with an on-off ratio that's 1,000 times better and a conductance that's 100 times better than previous state-of-the-art carbon nanotube transistors.

The team's most recent advance also brings the field closer to realizing carbon nanotube transistors as a feasible replacement for silicon transistors in computer chips and in high-frequency communication devices, which are rapidly approaching their physical scaling and performance limits.

The researchers have patented their technology through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and have begun working with companies to accelerate the technology transfer to industry.

The study is published in the journal ACS Nano.