Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists have found a way to create complex fibers hundreds of meters long that are used in functional devices. This fiber contains metal, glass and semiconductors that are useful in biomedical, smart textiles and robotics. However, it is very difficult to locate these functional devices.

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The research has been published in the journal ACS Central Science. With this method, functional devices such as electrodes or sensors can be positioned at specific locations.

Youngbin Lee, Polina Anikeeva and colleagues have developed a thiol-epoxy / thiol-ene polymer that can be combined with other materials that, when heated and stretched to a micro-size, forms coated fibers. polymers. This polymer is a photosensitive, so when ultraviolet rays are applied, it will create a network that prevents it from being dissolved with common solvents such as acetone. By scanning the sizing at specific locations along the fiber during photolithography protects the underlying areas from UV rays. Then, when cleaning the lake and treating the fibers with acetone, the polymer composition at the sites is dissolved to reveal the underlying materials.

The researchers gave a concrete evidence as follows: they created patterns along the fibers in contact with a conductive filament underneath the thiol-epoxy / thiol-ene lake. The remainder of the polymer acts as an insulator along the length of the fiber. In this way electrodes or other micro devices can be placed in samples along these fibers.

This work is funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Kwanjeong Education Foundation.

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