Researchers devise thermally-activated flexible display

The race to create bigger smaller and better flexible displays now has yet another participant, but Weijia Wen and colleagues at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology are putting a toasty twist on their iteration. The team has reportedly developed a "flexible, thermally-activated electronic display made from a mixture of metal nanoparticles and plastic," which costs far less than most similar alternatives to create and measures just 150-microns in thickness. Moreover, these units are able to change hues based on the surrounding temperatures, and while only fixed patterns are available for viewing at the moment, the crew hopes to implement an array of "thermal pixels" in the future for more dynamic opportunities. A display that warns you of an overheating machine / battery / toy -- who woulda thunk it?

[Thanks, Alan]

[-Tj- @ Jul 6th 2007 10:21AM]

Didn't they invent these already? I thought they were called mood pads or something like that. You can heat those up and bend 'em, too... maybe I'm just missing the bigger picture or something.

[gt2378b @ Jul 6th 2007 12:05PM]

Well, they say this costs less, always a good thing.

Some of the applications in the article sound cool (tinted windows at the flip of a switch) but I don't understand how ambient temps won't mess these things up.

I am sort of confused about what other applications these could have - can anyone give examples?

[AF @ Jul 6th 2007 12:27PM]

Yeah, my mom totally stuck one of these on my forehead in like, 1975, to see if I had a fever. Talk about sticking "nano" into something and calling it an invention.