Polydimethylsiloxane-based stretchable conductive elastomer fiber by using oil bath-spinning for wearable devices

Abstract

Flexible stretchable conductors are widely used in various wearable devices and flexible electronic components due to their unique engineering structure adaptability. Fiber has anisotropic stretchability due to its linear structure and it is used in the study of stretchable conductors. However, traditional fibers have low axial stretchability and poor adhesion to conductive particles, so they are not suitable for high-strain engineering structures. Here, a simple and fast preparation method with oil bath thermal curing and a blade coating method is proposed to obtain polydimethylsiloxane-based stretchable elastomer fibers. The fibers have excellent flexibility, stretchability (greater than 100%), elasticity (recovery rate greater than 96%), conductivity (176.5 S/m), and rapid electromechanical response. In particular, the fibers have good weaving ability for their stable performance under bending and twisting load, which is important to weave flexible high conductivity fabric. The effect of conductive particle types (carbon black, carboxylated multi-arm carbon nanotubes) on the fiber properties is also studied. The results show that the carbon nanotube/polydimethylsiloxane fiber has better stable performance under bending and twisting load due to a uniform and dense conductive layer formed. This work provides a research basis for the preparation of silicone rubber-like fibrous composite materials, and the prepared polydimethylsiloxane-based stretchable conductive elastomer fibers have broad application prospects in flexible wearable electronic devices.