Focus: GS-III Science and Technology
Why in news?
- Scientists have developed a novel recipe for fabrication of Transparent Conducting Glasses (TCG) which brings down its production cost by 80% compared to Tin-Doped Indium Oxide (ITO) based technology which is currently in use.
- Scientists have found a new process for synthesizing crystalline rubrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-based thin film which can be useful for the development of optoelectronic devices and also for preparation of Electronic Skin (E-Skin).
Innovation in fabrication of Transparent Conducting Glass
The demand of transparent conducting glasses (TCG) with high light transparency has tremendously increased due to its wide range of applications in optoelectronic devices such as smart windows, solar cells, touch screen/ touch sensors, and so on.
Innovation in synthesizing crystalline Rubrene
- Devices made of pyro-electric materials (that generate electric charge when they are heated or cooled) and piezo-electric materials (that generate electric charge under the effect of mechanical pressure), can help detect change in temperature and pressure.
- Pyro-electric materials also show pyro-phototronic effect where pyro-electricity is associated with the change in temperature of a material when it absorbs photons.
- Pyro-electric infrared detectors are well known for application in infrared sensing for space research, defense, remote sensing, and household appliances.
Electronic skin
- Electronic skin refers to flexible, stretchable and self-healing electronics that are able to mimic functionalities of human or animal skin.
- The broad class of materials often contain sensing abilities that are intended to reproduce the capabilities of human skin to respond to environmental factors such as changes in heat and pressure.
- The successful combination of flexible and stretchable mechanical properties with sensors and the ability to self-heal would open the door to many possible applications including soft robotics, prosthetics, artificial intelligence and health monitoring.
