Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Conformable and biodegradable electronic materials are central to human- and eco-benign technologies, including medical implants, food monitoring, wearable electronics, fieldable environmental sensors, and consumer electronics. Devices based on such technologies have to have low human- and eco-toxicity. They should also be biodegradable at the device-end-of-life. Indeed, if we think at the billions of devices required for the Internet of Things (IoT) low environmental impact is an absolute necessity. Last but not least, devices have to be robust (e.g. stretchable and healable) since they could possibly be located in remote, difficult-to-access areas, such as forests and be positioned on objects of arbitrary shape.***To optimize the performance of such devices that have to be adaptable to non-rigid surfaces it is imperative to have a simultaneous Electro-Mechanical materials characterization. ***This proposal seeks funding for versatile infrastructure open to researchers in the Montreal metropolitan area involved in a broad range of areas spanning from stretchable/flexible electronics to bioelectronics and light-weight electronics. The requested infrastructure is a Multiaxial Electro-Mechanical Tester, able to perform electrical measurements in combination with high-precision and multiple-axis testing in compression, tension, shear, indexation and torsion. ***Organic electronic materials are among the most versatile materials for flexible, stretchable and healable electronic devices, since they combine high conductivity, aqueous solution processing, oxide-free interfaces and stability towards corrosion. A further advantage of is the possibility to engineer the mechanical properties of organic electronic films via fine tuning the deposition conditions, substrate pre-stretching or blending with other polymers. Biosourced organic materials featuring intriguing electroactivity, biocompatibility and biodegradability are also available.***The requested infrastructure, involving a gender-balanced team of four researchers at different stages of their career, from multiple institutions, will support research projects on stretchable and healable electronic materials, mechanical properties of meta materials, and environmentally benign electrochemical energy storage.***Because of its (i) interdisciplinary character at the forefront of physical chemistry, chemical, biomedical and mechanical engineering, (ii) potential to produce high-impact science and ground-breaking technologies affecting the quality of life of Canadians from health to environment, the requested equipment represents an exceptional opportunity to train outstanding highly qualified personnel making them tomorrow's leader in the field of emerging electronic technologies combining high performance and sustainability.***********