A reconfigurable and automatic platform for the on-demand production of stretchable conductive composites

Stretchable conductive composites (SCCs) have been widely used as interconnects and sensors in stretchable electronic devices due to their tunable electromechanical properties and intrinsically high stretchability compared to solid metals. SCCs can be readily made by mixing (or breaking bulk) conductive fillers within an elastomeric polymer, which are subsequently cured. Despite the simplicity of this, most fabrication methods follow customized protocols and lack precise automatic control. These methods also require bulky and costly equipment (e.g. stirrers, mixers, ovens, and vacuuming machines). Also, variations in the production process make it challenging to maintain the consistency of SCC’s electrical and mechanical properties produced in different batches. To solve this problem, this work develops an automatic SCC production platform (ASPP) that can be programmed to produce SCCs with high consistency in properties. The versatility of ASPP is demonstrated by fabricating SCCs with single and hybrid fillers, and porous structures. The consistency of SCCs’ electromechanical properties is examined using samples fabricated in different batches following the same protocol. We further utilize the fabricated SCCs to realize various intelligent tactile sensing and heating platforms. The capability demonstrated for the ASPP shows its potential in fabricating SCCs for applications in soft robotics and wearable devices.

[1]  Guolin Yun,et al.  Electro-mechano responsive elastomers with self-tunable conductivity and stiffness , 2023, Science advances.

[2]  L. Tong,et al.  Optimal design and experimental validation of 3D printed soft pneumatic actuators , 2022, Smart Materials and Structures.

[3]  S. Yesilyurt,et al.  Fabrication of magnetic helical microribbons made of nickel thin films sandwiched between silicon nitride layers for microswimming applications , 2022, Nanotechnology.

[4]  Guanwu Li,et al.  Lightweight Liquid Metal‐Elastomer Foam with Smart Multi‐Function , 2022, Advanced Functional Materials.

[5]  Qi Zhang,et al.  Versatile Copolymer for Stretchable and Self-healable Liquid-free Ionic Conductive Elastomers. , 2022, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[6]  Chun-peng Wang,et al.  Liquid‐Free, Anti‐Freezing, Solvent‐Resistant, Cellulose‐Derived Ionic Conductive Elastomer for Stretchable Wearable Electronics and Triboelectric Nanogenerators , 2022, Advanced Functional Materials.

[7]  M. Shin,et al.  Stretchable and Self-Healable Graphene–Polymer Conductive Composite for Wearable EMG Sensor , 2022, Polymers.

[8]  M. Kaltenbrunner,et al.  Ultrafast small-scale soft electromagnetic robots , 2022, Nature Communications.

[9]  Junmo Kim,et al.  Geometrically engineered rigid island array for stretchable electronics capable of withstanding various deformation modes , 2022, Science advances.

[10]  Ming Wang,et al.  Piezoresistive anisotropy in conductive silicon rubber/multi-walled carbon nanotube/nickel particle composites via alignment of nickel particles , 2022, Composites Science and Technology.

[11]  Huiqing Lou,et al.  Carbon Nanotube/Polymer Coaxial Cables with Strong Interface for Damping Composites and Stretchable Conductors , 2022, Advanced Functional Materials.

[12]  Michael J. Christoe,et al.  Soft Liquid Metal Infused Conductive Sponges , 2022, Advanced Materials Technologies.

[13]  X. Gong,et al.  Stretchable and Recyclable Liquid Metal Droplets Embedded Elastomer Composite with High Mechanically Sensitive Conductivity. , 2022, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[14]  Weizhong Yuan,et al.  A stretchable and adhesive composite hydrogel containing PEDOT: PSS for wide-range and precise motion sensing, electromagnetic interference shielding and triboelectric nanogenerator , 2022, Materials Chemistry Frontiers.

[15]  Yong Zhu,et al.  A Biaxially Stretchable and Self-Sensing Textile Heater Using Silver Nanowire Composite. , 2021, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[16]  T. Ghosh,et al.  Skin‐Inspired Capacitive Stress Sensor with Large Dynamic Range via Bilayer Liquid Metal Elastomers , 2021, Advanced Materials Technologies.

[17]  Jiuyang Zhang,et al.  Transient Electrically Driven Stiffness-Changing Materials from Liquid Metal Polymer Composites. , 2021, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[18]  M. Dickey,et al.  Liquid Metal Hybrid Composites with High-Sensitivity and Large Dynamic Range Enabled by Micro- and Macrostructure Engineering , 2021, ACS Applied Polymer Materials.

[19]  Q. Zheng,et al.  3D Interconnected Conductive Graphite Nanoplatelet Welded Carbon Nanotube Networks for Stretchable Conductors , 2021, Advanced Functional Materials.

[20]  Yuanjin Zhao,et al.  Stretchable and Conductive Composite Structural Color Hydrogel Films as Bionic Electronic Skins , 2021, Advanced science.

[21]  Daewon Kim,et al.  Liquid-metal embedded sponge-typed triboelectric nanogenerator for omnidirectionally detectable self-powered motion sensor , 2021 .

[22]  C. Majidi,et al.  Cutaneous Ionogel Mechanoreceptors for Soft Machines, Physiological Sensing, and Amputee Prostheses , 2021, Advanced materials.

[23]  Michael D. Bartlett,et al.  Self-healing liquid metal composite for reconfigurable and recyclable soft electronics , 2021, Communications Materials.

[24]  Weihua Li,et al.  Hybrid‐Filler Stretchable Conductive Composites: From Fabrication to Application , 2021, Small Science.

[25]  P. Milani,et al.  All‐Printed Green Micro‐Supercapacitors Based on a Natural‐derived Ionic Liquid for Flexible Transient Electronics , 2021, Advanced Functional Materials.

[26]  Guang Yang,et al.  Soft liquid-metal/elastomer foam with compression-adjustable thermal conductivity and electromagnetic interference shielding , 2021 .

[27]  Krzysztof K. Krawczyk,et al.  Self-Reducing Silver Ink on Polyurethane Elastomers for the Manufacture of Thin and Highly Stretchable Electrical Circuits , 2021 .

[28]  Y. Chai,et al.  Permeable superelastic liquid-metal fibre mat enables biocompatible and monolithic stretchable electronics , 2021, Nature Materials.

[29]  S. Qu,et al.  Tunable piezoresistivity of low percolation threshold micro-nickel wires/PDMS conductive composite regulated by magnetic field , 2021 .

[30]  Xingyu Jiang,et al.  Highly Stretchable and Biocompatible Liquid Metal-Elastomer Conductors for Self-Healing Electronics. , 2020, Small.

[31]  Kyung-In Jang,et al.  Self‐Bondable and Stretchable Conductive Composite Fibers with Spatially Controlled Percolated Ag Nanoparticle Networks: Novel Integration Strategy for Wearable Electronics , 2020, Advanced Functional Materials.

[32]  T. Ghosh,et al.  Ultrasoft Liquid Metal Elastomer Foams with Positive and Negative Piezopermittivity for Tactile Sensing , 2020, Advanced Functional Materials.

[33]  Weihua Li,et al.  Dynamic Temperature Control System for the Optimized Production of Liquid Metal Nanoparticles , 2020, ACS Applied Nano Materials.

[34]  M. Dickey,et al.  Liquid Metal Direct Write and 3D Printing: A Review , 2020, Advanced Materials Technologies.

[35]  N. Ning,et al.  Highly stretchable liquid metal/polyurethane sponge conductors with excellent electrical conductivity stability and good mechanical properties , 2019 .

[36]  Liqun Zhang,et al.  A Polyvinyl Alcohol Stabilized Liquid Metal Hydrogel for Wearable Transient Epidermal Sensors. , 2019, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[37]  N. Ning,et al.  Highly Stretchable Conductor by Self-assembling and Mechanical Sintering of 2D Liquid Metal on 3D Polydopamine-modified Polyurethane sponge. , 2019, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[38]  Lim Wei Yap,et al.  Multiscale Soft–Hard Interface Design for Flexible Hybrid Electronics , 2019, Advanced materials.

[39]  Dae-Hyeong Kim,et al.  Material‐Based Approaches for the Fabrication of Stretchable Electronics , 2019, Advanced materials.

[40]  Yei Hwan Jung,et al.  Anisotropic Thermal Conductive Composite by the Guided Assembly of Boron Nitride Nanosheets for Flexible and Stretchable Electronics , 2019, Advanced Functional Materials.

[41]  Xiaodong Wang,et al.  Chemical Bond Scission and Physical Slippage in the Mullins Effect and Fatigue Behavior of Elastomers , 2019, Macromolecules.

[42]  Haiping Du,et al.  Liquid metal-filled magnetorheological elastomer with positive piezoconductivity , 2019, Nature Communications.

[43]  Jiuyang Zhang,et al.  Ultrauniform Embedded Liquid Metal in Sulfur Polymers for Recyclable, Conductive, and Self‐Healable Materials , 2019, Advanced Functional Materials.

[44]  G. Zi,et al.  High‐Sensitivity, Skin‐Attachable, and Stretchable Array of Thermo‐Responsive Suspended Gate Field‐Effect Transistors with Thermochromic Display , 2018, Advanced Functional Materials.

[45]  Saeid Nahavandi,et al.  A self-sufficient micro-droplet generation system using highly porous elastomeric sponges: A versatile tool for conducting cellular assays , 2018, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.

[46]  Jing Liu,et al.  Ni‐GaIn Amalgams Enabled Rapid and Customizable Fabrication of Wearable and Wireless Healthcare Electronics , 2018 .

[47]  Michael D. Bartlett,et al.  Mechanical and Functional Tradeoffs in Multiphase Liquid Metal, Solid Particle Soft Composites , 2018, Advanced Functional Materials.

[48]  R. Sun,et al.  Fabrication of a flexible and stretchable three-dimensional conductor based on Au–Ni@graphene coated polyurethane sponge by electroless plating , 2018 .

[49]  K. Khoshmanesh,et al.  Liquid metals: fundamentals and applications in chemistry. , 2018, Chemical Society reviews.

[50]  Carmel Majidi,et al.  An autonomously electrically self-healing liquid metal–elastomer composite for robust soft-matter robotics and electronics , 2018, Nature Materials.

[51]  Siyuan Ma,et al.  Silicones for Stretchable and Durable Soft Devices: Beyond Sylgard-184. , 2018, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[52]  Dongzhi Zhang,et al.  Room-temperature high-performance acetone gas sensor based on hydrothermal synthesized SnO2-reduced graphene oxide hybrid composite , 2015 .

[53]  G. Truskey,et al.  Magnetoactive sponges for dynamic control of microfluidic flow patterns in microphysiological systems. , 2014, Lab on a chip.