Handwriting flexible electronics: Tools, materials and emerging applications

Flexible electronics are excepted to be an important support for the next electronic age, and their quick, cost-effective, and easily realized fabrication is a key motivating factor to the on-going and future applications. The fabrication technique derived from day-to-day handwriting has prompted the advancement of producing flexible electronics with readily available, low-cost and user-friendly tools. Combined advances in materials science, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering strengthen this method in implementing electronic components, circuits, sensors, and energy devices. This review focuses on the milestones and recent achievements of handwriting flexible electronics, concerning the available tools, writing mechanisms, involved materials, and emerging applications. On account of the merits and demerits of the handwriting technique, discussions and conclusions about the superiorities, possible usages, challenges and predictions are also presented.