Emerging technologies of plastic carbon nanoelectronics: A review

This review paper describes various emerging technologies and relevant physical issues in plastic nanoelectronics using carbonaceous materials. Examples range from mechanically flexible carbon (C) nanotube thin-film transistors, flexible energy storage devices, electronic textile, multifunctional and responsive elastomers, artificial skin, flexible gas sensors, to solar cells. In these and other systems, mechanical design is as important as circuit design. This and recent research in stretchable C nanoelectronics indicate that further progress requires multidisciplinary programs, incorporating nearly every field of traditional study, from chemistry, materials science, computation, and physics to mechanical and electrical engineering. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.