When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
French and American researchers have developed a breakthrough in thin films used in electronic circuits, using copolymers, that could provide a six-fold increase in computer storage capacity, more applications in flexible electronics, and better photovoltaic cells and biosensors.
Before the development, thin films used in electronic circuits have been designed from synthetic polymers that are derived from petroleum, reports EE Times India. But these films have limitations: their minimal structural resolution is around 20 nanometers and cannot be reduced further.
“This limit has been one of the main obstacles to the development of new generations of very-high-resolution flexible electronic devices,” say the researchers. The collaboration was spearheaded by the Central national research scientific. The development was reported in ACS Nano.
Before new generations of microprocessors can be designed, lithography, the technique used for printing electronic circuits, has to be revolutionized to allow for even smaller circuit architecture, reports AzoNano.com. The scientific team, headed by Redouane Borsali, designed a hybrid material, combining sugar-based and petroleum-derived (silicon-containing polystyrene) polymers with different physical and chemical properties.
This copolymer is similar to an oil bubble attached to a small water bubble. This type of structure can organize itself into sugar cylinders with a petroleum-based lattice, each structure with a size of five nanometers. The new size would represent a six-fold increase in storage capacity, such as that used in flash drives. Researchers are now trying to improve the control of the lattices’ organization and design in their self-forming structures.
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