Printed Transistors Developed By Researchers for Use in Smart Packaging
Have you ever thought what if you could get a notification on your smartphone informing that the milk carton you bought is going to be out-of-date? Yes, this can soon be a reality. All thanks to the research team who have developed a printed transistor that consists of complete 2D nanomaterials. The researchers have utilized a standard printing methodology to merge graphene nanosheets, which would act as electrodes, with other 2 nanomaterials, boron nitride and tungsten diselenide as separator and channel to make an all nanosheet, all printed, functioning transistor.
As per the researchers, this fabrication of a new transistor has come up with new avenues for industries, such as pharmaceuticals and ICT, to cost-effectively print a crowd of electronic equipment from LEDs to solar cells with applications to next-generation banknote security and e-passports from interactive smart food and drug labels.
The team thus could open the possibility for use in food packaging that can exhibit a digital countdown to inform the consumer about the spoiling or the labels on the wine that notify the consumer when their white wine is at its optimal temperature.
Jonathan Coleman, the lead researcher, said, “In the coming period, the printed equipment will be integrated into even the most ordinary entities such as posters, packaging, and labels. Printed electronic circuitry that is produced from the devices we have made will permit consumer products to process, gather, exhibit, and transmit data; for instance, the milk cartons can deliver messages to your smartphone forewarning that the milk will be going out-of-date soon.
These 2D materials merge electronic characteristics with the potential for inexpensive production.
The team hopes that 2D nanomaterials can race with the materials that are utilized at present for the printed electronics. In comparison to other materials utilized in this field, the 2D nanomaterials have the potential to succumb more lucrative and high performance printed tools.
The team demonstrated that semiconducting, insulating, and conducting 2D nanomaterials can be merged in complex equipment. Coleman further added, “We thought that it was significantly essential to concentrate on the printing transistors as they are the electric switches present at the heart of modern computing. We hope that this study results in new approaches to print a complete crowd of devices exclusively from 2D nanosheets.”
So, isn’t it an out-of-box invention?