Technology has been developed to create wires for wearable electronic devices using existing textile manufacturing processes, raising expectations that this will significantly improve lightness and energy efficiency in the future.

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) Nano Convergence Research Center's Dr. Han Joong-tak's team announced on the 17th that they had succeeded in developing high-performance functional wire for wearable electronic devices using existing fiber manufacturing processes.

This achievement is attracting attention as a wire manufacturing technology that is more efficient and lightweight than existing methods, and is expected to lead to innovative progress in the wearable device industry.

Wearable electronic devices have become essential items in our daily lives, including smartwatches, glasses, and earphones.

One of the key components of these devices is the lightweight, highly conductive wire that greatly affects the performance and sustainability of electronic devices.

The 'single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT)-based high-energy lightweight wire' developed by Dr. Han Jung-tak's team is evaluated as a new material that will meet these needs.

CNTs are 100 times stronger than steel. A new material with electrical conductivity comparable to copper, and high flexibility and energy density.

On the other hand, CNTs have strong cohesion and are difficult to disperse in solvents, which has led to technical limitations in commercialization.

To overcome this, the research team introduced oxygen functional groups to the surface of CNTs to increase their affinity with solvents and produced wires using existing fiber manufacturing methods.

In this process, graphene oxide was added to improve dispersibility and maximize manufacturing efficiency.

Performance verification was also completed through collaboration between the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) and Konkuk University.

CNT wires have demonstrated high performance in supercapacitors and gas sensors, and are expected to be utilized in smart clothing, firefighting, and defense fields in the future.

The research team published the results of this study in 'ACS Nano', an authoritative academic journal in the field of nanoscience of the American Chemical Society, and was recognized worldwide for the excellence of their technology.

Dr. Han Joong-tak said, “This research is the world’s first case of developing a lightweight yet high-performance wire, and can be expanded to various future mobility fields such as wearable devices, electric vehicles, and drones.”

This research was conducted with the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST), and the National Research Foundation of Korea.