Yes, of course, at Hogwarts they do it with magic. But if there’s one thing in the Harry Potter books and movies that makes you say, “Ooh, I want that!”, it’s the newspaper on which all the pictures (and other images) move.
The fact that scientists and engineers are also interested in this is shown by the fact that in recent years we have come closer and closer to that wizard ideal, even as outright muggles, as they say in Harry Potter.
Electronic paper with e-ink exists and finds its application mainly in e-readers. We have ever thinner tablets, and even phones with foldable screens. You can hardly buy a much greater science fiction feeling with money for the time being.
But then the new invention that a group of chemical engineers made on Wednesday noted in trade magazine Nature: a plastic screen that you can not only bend, but also stretch. That remarkable screen can even become twice as bright as a smartphone, and you can stretch it to double its original length without tearing.
The screen itself is made of so-called polymers, the elongated chain molecules that make up, among other things, plastics and rubber. Three years ago, the research group already developed a stretchable fabric based on a polymer called SuperYellow. That could, you guessed it, only emit yellow light.
The crux at the time was to mix that yellow polymer with polyurethane, which is used, among other things, as artificial leather. This caused the normally brittle luminescent polymer to suddenly become very flexible.
Next, the same research group also developed stretchy red, green and blue polymers — the three colors that you can combine to create just about any other color imaginable — and then figured out the best way to string those colored chains together without compromising on performance. luminous power. In the final screen, they stack seven layers of material on top of each other, with the luminescent polymers in the middle. The result is a stretchable screen that is nevertheless sturdy.
The researchers themselves are already dreaming aloud about the possible applications for their invention. During the experiments, for example, they showed that you can stick the screens on your hands and fingers, where they move neatly with the skin. This way you can develop all kinds of portable variants. You can now view your running speed and heart rate on the back of your hand during exercise, instead of on a watch or phone. And the same goes for a bicycle route. You no longer need a clickable screen on your handlebars.
The material could even be used for interactive screens, which respond to how you bend them. Or to develop a map with real three-dimensional landscapes. And that is secretly even more impressive than the newspaper that is so popular in Hogwarts and regions. Science turns out to be better than magic after all.