| AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Transparent Conductors and Printable Electronics Focus Topic | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session TC+EM+AS-WeA |
| Session: | Printable and Flexible Electronics |
| Presenter: | M.F. Islam, Carnegie Mellon University |
| Authors: | K.H. Kim, Carnegie Mellon University Y. Oh, Carnegie Mellon University I. Lee, Carnegie Mellon University M.F. Islam, Carnegie Mellon University |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Flexible conductors of various shapes and sizes with high electrical stability under large elastic stretching and bending are of significant importance in diverse fields ranging from microelectronics to biological implants. A major roadblock in the development of flexible conductors is the disparity between elastomers and stiff conducting materials used in microelectronics. We have developed a novel scheme to create flexible conductors by completely backfilling a prefabricated conducting porous single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) three-dimensional network, called SWCNT aerogel, with an elastic polymer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Our approach allowed us to control SWCNT dispersion quality, and tune shapes, sizes and thicknesses of the SWCNT-aerogel/PDMS composite films to make them transparent. The resistance of our stretchable conductors remains nearly unchanged under repeated stretch-release cycles up to a tensile strain of 100% and high bending strain. We believe that the simple but unique fabrication method can be combined with different types of elastic polymers for different electrical, mechanical or biological demands.