Efficient Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube-Based Stretchable Electrodes for Flexible Electronic Devices

Stretchable electrodes are highly demanded in various wearable and flexible electronic devices, whereas the efficient fabrication approach is still a challenge. In this work, an efficient shrinking method to fabricate carbon nanotube (CNT)-based stretchable electrodes is proposed. The electrode is a layer of anisotropic CNT wrinkling film coated on a latex balloon substrate (CNT@latex), whose resistivity remains stable after 25 000 stretching cycles of 0 to 50% tensile strain, and can survive up to 500% tensile train. The highly conductive electrode can be used as the current collector of a stretchable Zinc-ion battery, maintaining an output voltage of 1.3 V during the stretching process of 0 to 100%. The applications of the electrode in flexible triboelectric nanogenerators and Joule heating devices are also demonstrated, further indicating their good prospects in the field of stretchable electronic devices.

Automated summary

This research proposes an efficient shrinking method to fabricate carbon nanotube (CNT)-based stretchable electrodes. The electrode is a layer of anisotropic CNT wrinkling film coated on a latex balloon substrate (CNT@latex), which remains stable after 25,000 stretching cycles with 0-50% tensile strain and can survive up to 500% tensile strain. The highly conductive electrode can be used as the current collector of a stretchable Zinc-ion battery, maintaining an output voltage of 1.3V during the stretching process of 0-100%. The applications of the electrode in flexible triboelectric nanogenerators and Joule heating devices are also demonstrated, indicating their promising prospects in the field of stretchable electronic devices.