Abstract
Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have become an efficient electrode candidate for stretchable electronics. We report the effects of directional stretching in microprism-mediated AgNW stretchable electrodes on polyurethane (PU) substrates. The wavy substrate is fabricated using a customized microprism on polyethylene terephthalate. AgNWs on stretchable PU substrates show stable normalized resistance up to 35% strain under parallel uniaxial stretching. This performance is much better than AgNWs on bare PU substrate or on wavy PU under perpendicular stretching, which can only sustain 10%-15% strain before significant increase in normalized resistance. Finite element simulations were conducted to reveal the strain distribution and variation in the AgNW electrodes on both bare and wavy PU substrates when stretched along parallel and perpendicular directions. Comparing to AgNW electrodes on bare PU and on wavy PU under perpendicular stretching, the wavy PU surface relief features can effectively alleviate the strain in the AgNW network when stretched along parallel direction, leading to better performance.
Highlights
Stretchable electrodes with high conductivity under more strain are essential for various applications including stretchable displays,[1,2] wearable electronics,[3] smart textiles,[4] and flexible solar cells.[5]
We investigated the effects of stretching direction on the performance of AgNWcoated polyurethane (PU) stretchable electrodes
AgNW-based stretchable electrodes were fabricated on microprism-mediated prestrained PU substrates
Summary
Stretchable electrodes with high conductivity under more strain are essential for various applications including stretchable displays,[1,2] wearable electronics,[3] smart textiles,[4] and flexible solar cells.[5]. Polymer, it is cured on pre-stretched elastomeric substrates. Formation of an elastomeric substrate is achieved using metal forms,[7] hollow fibers,[18] and microfluidic channels.[19] To realize better performance and fewer defects, microprism-mediated pre-stretched elastomeric substrates are used for preparing stretchable polymer substrates. If the direction of stretching is changed, the effects of Poisson ratio variation between the material and the substrate will be more. Careful selection of elastomeric substrate parameters is essential for better electrode performance. In this context, we investigated the effects of stretching direction on the performance of AgNWcoated polyurethane (PU) stretchable electrodes. To support the experimental results, a simulation based on finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted to realize the strain effect variation in different parts of the substrate under variable loads and stretching direction
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