Abstract
We integrate air bubbles into conductive elastic composite-based stretchable conductors to make them mechanically less stiff and electrically more robust against physical deformations. A surfactant facilitates both the formation and maintenance of air bubbles inside the elastic composites, leading to a simple fabrication of bubble-entrapped stretchable conductors. Based on the unique bubble-entrapped architecture, the elastic properties are greatly enhanced and the resistance change in response to tensile strains can clearly be controlled. The bubble-entrapped conductor achieves ~80 % elongation at ~3.4 times lower stress and ~44.8 % smaller change in the electrical resistance at 80 % tensile strain, compared to bare conductor without air bubbles.
Highlights
Conductive elastic materials that can retain their electrical performance under various deformations have recently received great attention due to the potential applications as stretchable conductors and interconnects in stretchable electronics [1–5]
We present a new class of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-doped stretchable conductor with embedded air bubbles based on conductive elastic composites
Higher doping level of CNT in the elastic conductor is more suitable for achieving higher electrical conductivity, it may lead to poor processibility due to the increased viscosity of the composites
Summary
Conductive elastic materials that can retain their electrical performance under various deformations have recently received great attention due to the potential applications as stretchable conductors and interconnects in stretchable electronics [1–5]. Examples include electrical nanonetworks mainly made of conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs) [6–8] and metallic nanowires (NWs) [9–11], buckled architectures of metallic thin films [12–14], threedimensional conductive foams [15–17], and conductive composites synthesized by doping elastomer matrices with conductive nanofillers [18–22] Among these methods, conductive composites have been considered as one of the most efficient ways of preparing conductive elastic materials due to the superior advantages including fabrication simplicity and easy control of the intrinsic electrical properties. Two critical issues can potentially arise in the conductive compositebased approaches: (1) considerable increase of the stiffness of the composites from excessive filler doping and (2) steep change in the electrical conductivity when stretched These would lead to significant degradation of the mechanical and electrical performance of the stretchable devices
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
