Issue 45, 2017

Selective photonic sintering of Ag flakes embedded in silicone elastomers to fabricate stretchable conductors

Abstract

Stretchable conductors have recently attracted much attention because of rapid developments in wearable and deformable electronics. Conductors are one of the essential components of electronic devices. A photonic sintering process with intense pulsed light from a xenon lamp is used for sintering printed ink to fabricate conductors, without damaging the substrate. However, it is difficult to achieve the most desired properties such as high conductivity and mechanical stretchability in stretchable conductors fabricated by photonic sintering. Here, highly stretchable conductors are developed by the selective sintering of conductive materials embedded in silicone elastomers, overcoming this drawback. The conductors are composed of conductive Ag flakes and elastomeric Ecoflex. Photonic sintering generates conductive paths without damaging the transparent elastomer. As a result, a stretchability of 500% is achieved without the need for any structural designs. Furthermore, a wireless power transfer circuit incorporating the conductors was successfully applied to operate a light emitting diode wirelessly. This approach opens up the possibility of developing new types of stretchable and deformable electronics for future applications.

Graphical abstract: Selective photonic sintering of Ag flakes embedded in silicone elastomers to fabricate stretchable conductors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Aug 2017
Accepted
02 Oct 2017
First published
02 Oct 2017

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2017,5, 11733-11740

Selective photonic sintering of Ag flakes embedded in silicone elastomers to fabricate stretchable conductors

Y. Oh, I. S. Yoon, C. Lee, S. H. Kim, B. Ju and J. Hong, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2017, 5, 11733 DOI: 10.1039/C7TC03828C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements