The ZJU-Cambridge 2022 Workshop on Flexible Electronics and Smart Systems was successfully held at the International Campus of Zhejiang University on Sept 28. Prof. Shery Huang, Prof. Gehan Amaratunga, Prof. Andrew Flewitt from Cambridge University and Prof. LI Tiefeng from ZJU were invited to make excellent academic presentations. They shared their latest findings online with more than 3,000 academics, faculty and students. This workshop was supported by “Zhejiang University Global Partnership Fund”.

Prof. LUO Jikui, Director of the International Research Center for Information Science and Electronic Engineering at ZJU-IC, hosted the workshop.

Prof. LUO Jikui

Prof. Shery Huang introduced their recent work in 3D printing and biofabrication for soft living materials at different length scales, including biofabrication for in vitro models and high-resolution Nano/Micro functional fiber printing. She also explored their techniques, which can be applied in bio-sensors, soft actuators, and disease models. 

Prof. Shery Huang

Prof. Gehan Amaratunga gave a detailed introduction to materials synthesis, structure design and colour control of quantum dots (QDs) for both LEDs and full colour displays. He also discussed the QDs-based photodetectors and the major limitations of QDs-based optoelectronic devices, including efficient electron and hole transport in active QDs layers. 

Prof. Gehan Amaratunga

Prof. Andrew Flewitt introduced the feasibility to optimize p-channel thin film transistors (TFTs) to operate alongside n-channel TFTs to achieve low-power CMOS logic by using new scaling rules that account for the off-state current. 

Prof. Andrew Flewitt

Prof. Li Tiefeng presented the mechanics and system design of the self-powered soft robot in the Mariana Trench, inspired by the structure of a deep-sea snailfish. The soft robot is made of a soft elastomer and actuated by a dielectric elastomer-based artificial muscle. He illustrated the mechanical analysis of the actuator performance of soft robots. Finally, the future development of the bioinspired soft robots in Europa exploration is prospected. 

Prof. LI Tiefeng

Flexible Electronics and Smart Systems Workshop on site