Simply by touching it, users can turn on an LED light that reacts to the circuit in the e-tattoo or run small electric devices . (image: Ajou University)
SUWON, June 15 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean research team has developed an ‘e-tattoo’ that can produce electricity when affixed to human skin or a soft robot and then touched.
The research team from Ajou University said Monday that it had developed an e-tattoo sticker by creating a nanofiber paper made of silk protein, a biometric-friendly material extracted from cocoons, and then drawing circuits with the wanted design on the paper with a carbon nano fiber ink.
According to the research team, the e-tattoo can be affixed to the skin like a tattoo after being soaked in water.
Simply by touching it, just like touching a switch, users can turn on an LED light that reacts to the circuit in the e-tattoo or run small electric devices such as stopwatches.
“As they are very thin, e-tattoos can be attached well even onto very wrinkled surfaces like fingerprints. Excluding showering and bathing, e-tattoos do not interfere with users’ everyday life.” said Kim Sung-hwan, a physics professor who led the study.
The results of the study were published in the June 11 online edition of the international academic journal Advanced Energy Materials.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
