Flexible electronics up to 50% harder than steel

Molybdenum disulfide is similar to graphite material very abundant on Earth and has emerged as one of the keys to the future of flexible electronics, introducing better yields than organic semiconductors used so far. Now a group of Spanish and Dutch research has studied the mechanical properties of this material in a pioneering study published in the journal Advanced Materials.

To study this promising material scientists from the Autonomous University of Madrid and the Technological University of Delft (Netherlands) created sheets hundred thousand times thinner than a sheet of paper and studied their behavior with an atomic force microscope. With him were able to determine the required membrane to deform and break strength. According to the work of scientists, molybdenum disulfide nanosheets are up to 50 percent harder than steel with the peculiarity that are "surprisingly flexible."

These properties open up a world of possibilities for future electronics, for using plastics as substrates, ultra-thin layers of compounds such as molybdenum disulfide or graphene can act better than current semiconductors. Moreover, as indicated from the University, its applications are not limited to containers with flexible screens and magazines, but also could be used to create versatile sensors such as to control structural damage of a building.