Recyclable multifunctional ion conductive elastomers for strain/temperature sensors and bioelectrodes

Abstract

Ionic conductive elastomers based on polymerizable deep eutectic solvents (PDES) have shown great application prospects in research fields such as lithium-ion batteries, smart soft materials, and wearable devices. However, most of these materials currently face the challenge of difficult recycling and reuse, resulting in environmental pollution and resource waste. In this work, we introduced PDES made of acrylic acid (AA) and choline chloride (ChCl) into polymerizable ionic liquid monomers [ATAC][TFSI] and prepared a physically crosslinked multifunctional ionic conductive elastomer PIL-PDES through a simple and rapid “one-step” photopolymerization strategy. This elastomer not only has satisfactory mechanical properties (tensile strength: 3.93 MPa, elongation at break: 760 %), high transparency (80 %), strong adhesion (iron: 135 kPa) and rapid self-healing but can also be recycled and reused. Based on the good conductivity of the elastomer (conductivity: 2.49 × 10−3 S/m), it can be used not only as a sensor to monitor human activities and changes in environmental temperature but also as a biological electrode to record human electrocardiogram signals. We believe that due to its superior overall performance and simple preparation method, PIL-PDES has broad potential for practical application in flexible wearable electronic devices.