A crack compensation strategy for highly stretchable conductors based on liquid metal inclusions
Guoqiang Li,
Xing Ma,
Zirong Xu,
Yifeng Shen,
Man Yuan,
Jianping Huang,
Tim Cole,
Jingjing Wei,
Sanhu Liu,
Fei Han,
Hanfei Li,
Bayinqiaoge,
Zhiwu Xu,
Shi-Yang Tang,
Zhiyuan Liu
Affiliations
Guoqiang Li
Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China; Department of Electronic Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Xing Ma
Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China; Corresponding author
Zirong Xu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Yifeng Shen
Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China
Man Yuan
Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen 518055, China
Jianping Huang
Research Center for Neural Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
Tim Cole
Department of Electronic Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Jingjing Wei
Research Center for Neural Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
Sanhu Liu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Fei Han
Research Center for Neural Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
Hanfei Li
Research Center for Neural Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
Bayinqiaoge
Department of Electronic Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Zhiwu Xu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Shi-Yang Tang
Department of Electronic Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; Corresponding author
Zhiyuan Liu
Research Center for Neural Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Crack control strategies have been proven very useful for enhancing the stretchability of metal film-based stretchable conductors. However, existing strategies often suffer from the drawbacks of complicated preparation and predefined effective directions. Here, we propose a crack compensation strategy for preparing conductors featured with high stretchability by using liquid metal microparticles (LMMPs)-embedded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the substrate with a thin film of gold (Au) sputtered on the surface. LMMPs can be elongated to connect the cracked Au film upon stretching, which can form a conductive “island-tunnel” (IT) architecture to compensate for the cracks and maintain the conductivity. The high performance of the stretchable conductor is demonstrated by using it as electrodes to record surface electromyography of human brachioradialis and monitor electrocorticography signals of a rat in normal and epileptic states. The developed strategy shows the potential to provide a new perspective for the fabrication of flexible electronics.
