Highly conductive, super-stretchable and stable stretchable conductor with CNT and liquid metal alternating layered structure

Abstract

Liquid metal (LM) composites, known for their excellent conductivity and fluidity, hold great promise in the fields of printed electronics and wearable technology. However, their high surface tension and fluidity can lead to circuit instability, such as leakage during deformation, resulting in short circuits. Therefore, additional methods are necessary to enhance the stability of LM within composite material systems. In this paper, Carbon nanotube (CNT) was introduced as a transition layer to enhance the adhesion of gallium-indium-copper-alloy ink (GCLA) on different elastic substrates and to obtain interface fusion conductive layers. The modified GCLA conductive fibers achieved high conductivity (conductivity up to 3.13 × 105 S/m), ultra-stretchability (1580 % of ultra-large deformation, the resistance changes less than 3 Ω), and ultra-stability (within 200 % of large deformation, the change of resistance less than 1 Ω). In addition, we also demonstrated the operability of GCLA in forming patterns on hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrate surfaces and obtained conductive patterns through printing, transfer printing, and hand drawing, making it a promising candidate for flexible electronics.