University lab works
to increase flexibility
of electronic devices
By CHETALI JAIN
Daily Staff Reporter
Breaking from the traditional
rules of material engineering, a
research lab at the University is
working to effectively bend elec-
tronic devices.
The Kotov Laboratory at the
University is working to give
electronic
devices
increased
flexibility.
Dr. Nicholas Kotov, a Chemi-
cal Engineering professor and
member of the Materials Science
and Engineering Department at
the University, said stretchable
conductors are materials that
can be used in many electronic
devices and help the device ade-
quately bend and stretch.
The
technology
requires
fundamental accessibility and
availability of materials that can
conduct electricity well and be
mechanically transformable.
Stretchable conductors usu-
ally consist of material that is
made up of polymers, such as
rubber. These materials are not
very conductive on their own;
however, when combined with
ductile metal wires, the versa-
tility of the conductors increas-
es.
According to Terry Shyu, a
doctoral student in the Materials
Science and Engineering depart-
ment and member of the Kotov
group, the ability to combine
these two properties is very use-
ful as society’s interest in flexi-
ble electronics, displays and even
biomedical implants increases.
However,
when
improving
conductivity of the material,
flexibility is sacrificed.
“It is an interesting problem
that would require an out-of-the
box solution,” said Dr. Kotov.
“The traditional approach that
many people apply tends to com-
promise performance, so we
decided to apply something out-
rageous.”
The “outrageous” approach
Dr. Kotov referred to is Kirigami,
the ancient Japanese art of paper
cutting. The success of the Kotov
group’s stretchable conductors
lies in its usage of this technique.
“This idea started from play-
ing with Kirigami paper sculp-
tures
from
the
artist
Matt
Shlian,” Shyu said. “We were
interested in seeing how paper
art — essentially a really robust
mechanical system — can help us
design materials.”
Shyu measured how materi-
als respond under tension using
a tensile test. What she and her
colleagues found was that paper
behaved comparably to poly-
meric material. They could now
control the response of these
materials by implementing vari-
ous cutting patterns.
Kirigami is especially useful in
stretchable conductors because
the integrity of the material does
not have to be compromised —
in other words, the chemistry
or composition of the material
remains unaltered. The method
also helps diminish uncontrolled
failure by predetermining points
of strain in the material, allow-
ing for predictability of the elec-
trical conductivity.
While other research focuses
on a materials approach, what
sets the Kotov group’s research
apart is that it combines engi-
neering material and geometry,
allowing for the predictability of
the deformation of the material.
“We are quite excited by initial
experimental data,” Dr. Kotov
said. “It means that instead of
the dry methods of designing
these conductors, we now have
a really robust engineering com-
putational tool which can be cou-
pled with the composites and all
together this creates a founda-
tion for designing and mechanics
of conductivity.”
The
advent
of
effective
stretchable conductors has the
potential to be a game-changer
in the world of electronics.
According to Shyu, an obvious
path for stretchable conductors
is flexible electronics, such as
batteries and sensors.
“Many people are jumping on
the idea of structuring deforma-
tion,” Shyu said.
9
Thursday, July 9, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
Stamps students work to aid A2 homeless
Art school pairs
with local non-profit
to bring tiny homes
to Ann Arbor
By ALEX JUNTTI
Daily Staff Reporter
A
collaborative
project
between the Stamps School of
Art & Design and a local home-
less advocacy group has the city
abuzz with the possibility of a
tiny house community.
MISSION, a non-profit orga-
nization dedicated to providing
a voice for the city’s homeless,
has been an advocate for the
tiny houses project for several
years and hopes to see the con-
cept take shape in Ann Arbor.
Brian Durrance, a MISSION
board member and former presi-
dent of the organization, said a
tiny house community would
not only benefit the local home-
less population but could also
service those who don’t need
larger facilities.
“Many people see these hous-
es as a solution to the problem of
affordable housing, not only for
homeless people but for single
people and aging adults — peo-
ple who don’t need all of the
amenities a large house offers,”
Durrance said. “I think a lot of
the technical issues are being
worked out across the coun-
try in different conversations,
and those discussions are now
occurring as well here in Ann
Arbor.”
The efforts of MISSION were
matched by those of Ann Arbor
City Council Member Stephen
Kunselman (D– Ward 3), who
recently brought forth a propos-
al to bring a tiny house commu-
nity to a city-owned property at
415 W. Washington Street.
The idea to build a tiny house
community at that specific loca-
tion has since been abandoned
due to issues concerning legal-
ity, practicality, and previous
proposals for developing that
property. The wake of Kunsel-
man’s push, however, has many
community members consider-
ing the option of incorporating
tiny houses into the city in the
future.
Ann Arbor Mayor Christo-
pher Taylor, who was opposed to
Kunselman’s proposal, said that
415 W. Washington may not be
the right location for the project
and that the timing is not be the
best for this experiment.
“There are zoning and build-
ing code obstacles in respect
to tiny homes,” Taylor said.
“If they can prove to be legally
available within the boundaries
of state law, we, in Ann Arbor,
would be interested in exploring
how we could incorporate tiny
homes into our affordable hous-
ing portfolio.”
One group in particular, stu-
dents enrolled in Experimental
Architecture in the STAMPS
School of Art and Design, dedi-
cated an entire semester to the
ZACH MOORE/Daily
Street artist, David Zinn, creates one of his signature chalk drawings on the diag Sunday during the Ann Arbor Summer
Festival.
STRE ET ART
Ancient practice
aids researchers
Read more at MichiganDaily.com