Flexible, Printable Sensors Detect Underwater Hazards

University of California, San Diego
July 7, 2011

Breakthroughs in nanoengineering often involve building new materials or tiny circuits. But a professor at the University of California, San Diego is proving that he can make materials and circuits so flexible that they can be pulled, pushed and contorted – even under water – and still keep functioning properly.

Joseph Wang has successfully printed thick-film electrochemical sensors directly on flexible wetsuit material, paving the way for nano devices to detect underwater explosives or ocean contamination.

“We have a long-term interest in on-body electrochemical monitoring for medical and security applications,” said Wang, a professor in the Department of NanoEngineering in UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering. “In the past three years we’ve been working on flexible, printable sensors, and the capabilities of our group made it possible to extend these systems for use underwater.”
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