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Light-emitting materials for wearable electronics

Nature Reviews Materials volume 7, pages 839–840 (2022)Cite this article

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Next-generation light-emitting displays should be not only flexible and bright but also soft and stretchable. Newly emerging light-emitting materials will enable body-conformable light-emitting devices with potential applications in a variety of fields, including displays, lighting, sensing, imaging, stimulation and therapy.

The combination of multi-functional electronic devices with the human body can lead to a wide variety of applications, ranging from energy generation and sensing to health monitoring and therapy1,2. However, many potential applications are hindered by the lack of interactive human–machine interfaces for real-time information displaying. Traditional light-emitting displays are bulky and rigid and cannot be conformably integrated with the human body. Emerging light-emitting materials have the potential to enable wearable3, attachable4 and implantable5,6 devices with reduced mechanical mismatch with the human body, providing stable interfaces even during motion. These body-conformable light-emitting devices can be used for flexible displays but also for optical imaging, neurostimulation and photodynamic therapy6.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Foundation of National Facility for Translational Medicine (Shanghai).

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  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Zhangjiang Institute for Advanced Study, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, P. R. China

    Zhitao Zhang

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  1. Zhitao Zhang
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Correspondence to Zhitao Zhang.

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Zhang, Z. Light-emitting materials for wearable electronics. Nat Rev Mater 7, 839–840 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-022-00502-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-022-00502-4

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