Application progress of Nitinol in consumer electronics and wearable devices

1. Innovative applications in consumer electronics
(1) Hinge optimization of folding screen equipment
Foldable phones/tablets: Nitinol is used to enhance the durability and fatigue resistance of the hinges. For example, Samsung, Huawei and other manufacturers use nickel-titanium composite structures in folding screen equipment to achieve hundreds of thousands of folds without damage, while reducing the thickness of the hinge.

Self-healing mechanism: Using the shape memory effect, the hinge can be restored after slight deformation through temperature changes, extending the service life.

(2) Intelligent heat dissipation and thermal management
Dynamic cooling structure: nickel-titanium alloy made of deformable heat sink or heat pipe, according to the temperature of the device automatically adjust the shape to increase the heat dissipation area (such as gaming phones or laptops).

Phase change material combination: Nickel-titanium is combined with phase change material (PCM) to optimize heat dissipation efficiency and apply to thermal management of high-power chips.

(3) Micro drive and deformable structure
Pop-up camera/sensor: The shape memory effect is triggered by current or temperature to achieve automatic pop-up/retractable structure without motor drive (such as mobile phone lifting camera).

Adaptive interface: The charging interface or headphone jack adopts nickel-titanium alloy, and the contact point can adapt to the deformation with the insertion and removal action to reduce wear.

2. Breakthrough applications of wearable devices
(1) Flexible wearable sensor
Health monitoring: Nitinol is used as a flexible sensor base to monitor heart rate, blood pressure, EMG signal, etc. (such as smart bracelet, medical grade patch), and its superelasticity ADAPTS to the dynamic bending of the human body.

Pressure feedback: Integrated into smart gloves or sports gear to provide haptic response through deformation feedback (such as VR/AR interactive devices).

(2) Comfort and ergonomic design
Adaptive strap/frame: The smartwatch strap or AR glasses frame uses nickel-titanium alloy to adjust the tightness according to body temperature or ambient temperature to improve wearing comfort (such as the flexible strap prototype for Apple Watch).

Bone AIDS: Wearable exoskeletons or orthotics take advantage of nickel-titanium's lightweight and super-elastic properties to provide dynamic support (such as sports rehabilitation equipment).

(3) Energy collection and self-power supply technology
Thermal energy to electrical energy conversion: Using the phase transition characteristics of Nitinol alloy (heat energy absorption/release during shape memory), design a thermal power generation module to power low-power wearable devices.

Mechanical energy harvesting: Deformation of alloys caused by human movement, combined with piezoelectric materials to generate electricity (e.g. self-powered health monitoring equipment).

Typical application case
Huawei Mate X3 hinge: Using nickel-titanium alloy + carbon fiber composite structure, the hinge weight is reduced by 20%, and the life span is increased to 400,000 folds.

 

Other related product catalogues

Nickel titanium memory alloy in addition to the production of nickel-titanium strips, can also produce other similar products, such as nickel-titanium plate, nickel titanium flat wire, nickel titanium foil, nickel titanium wire, nickel titanium tube, nickel titanium spring, nickel titanium paper clips, nickel titanium wire rope.

Sum up
Nitinol is driving consumer electronics and wearable devices to become smarter, more durable, and more fit to the human body. With breakthroughs in material science and manufacturing technology, more disruptive applications may be realized in the future in fields such as flexible display, energy self-sufficiency, and medical grade wearables.

Contact us

Baoji Hanz Metal Material Co., Ltd.
Gaoxin Avenue, BaoJi city, ShaanXi province China
Tel: 86-917-3258889
Mobile, Whatsapp,Wechat: +8618091719909
Email:baojihanz-niti@hanztech.cn