Journal
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
Volume 3, Issue 10, Pages 5302-5315Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.1c01111
Keywords
conductive elastomer; liquid metal; multiscale structure design; high sensitivity flexible sensor; stretchable electronics
Funding
- Royal Society, UK [IEC\NSFC \201223]
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Conductive elastic composites are increasingly used in flexible sensors, wearable devices, and stretchable electronics. A study shows that a composite material with spike-shaped nickel microparticles and liquid metal microdroplets has a unique strain response, increasing electrical conductivity sharply under compressive and tensile loads. This composite material offers extremely high stretchability and pressure sensitivity, making it ideal for tactile sensing and mechanical responsiveness.
Conductive elastic composites composed of conductive fillers and polymer matrices are showing an increasing number of applications in the fields of flexible sensors, wearable devices, and stretchable electronics. Under mechanical deformation, the conductive filler network in the matrix shifts to change the conductive pathway among particles and thus, electrical conductivity of the composite. For most conductive composites, their conductivity changes monotonically with strain. Here, we report a composite that exhibits an unconventional strain response; its electrical conductivity increases sharply under both compressive and tensile loads. The Ecoflex-based composite contains spike-shaped nickel microparticles and liquid metal microdroplets. Because of the elastomeric mechanical properties of Ecoflex, the composite has an extremely high stretchability and pressure sensitivity, which is ideal for tactile sensing and mechanical responsiveness. On the basis of a composite film with a grooved or pyramidal surface structure, we demonstrate a pressure-controlled intelligent heating film and a pressure sensor with extremely high sensitivity and dynamic range.
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