A new polymer for wearable electronics

There is great interest and potential in the development of skin-inspired flexible and wearable electronic devices. Such devices require materials that twist, fold and bend with no loss in electronic—or material— properties. Zhenan Bao and colleagues report a conjugated polymer that also incorporates non-covalent interactions between adjacent chains, enabling the material to accommodate up to 100% strain whilst maintaining high charge-carrier mobility. In this proof-of-principle study the authors use the polymers to fabricate flexible and stretchable organic transistors that combine robustness with good electronic properties.