Issue 11, 2024

Low hysteresis zwitterionic supramolecular polymer ion-conductive elastomers with anti-freezing properties, high stretchability, and self-adhesion for flexible electronic devices

Abstract

The fabrication of stretchable ionic conductors with low hysteresis and anti-freezing properties to enhance the durability and reliability of flexible electronics even at low temperatures remains an unmet challenge. Here, we report a facile strategy to fabricate low hysteresis, high stretchability, self-adhesion and anti-freezing zwitterionic supramolecular polymer ion-conductive elastomers (ICEs) by photoinitiated polymerization of aqueous precursor solutions containing a newly designed zwitterionic monomer carboxybetaine ureido acrylate (CBUIA) followed by solvent evaporation. The resultant poly(carboxybetaine ureido acrylate) (PCBUIA) ICEs are highly stretchable and self-adhesive owing to the presence of strong hydrogen bonds between ureido groups and dipole–dipole interactions of zwitterions. The zwitterion groups on the polymer side chains and loaded-lithium chloride endow PCBUIA ICEs with excellent anti-freezing properties, demonstrating mechanical flexibility and ionic transport properties even at a low temperature (−20 °C). Remarkably, the PCBUIA ICEs demonstrate a low hysteresis (≈10%) during cyclic mechanical loading–unloading (≤500%), and are successfully applied as wearable strain sensors and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for energy harvesting and human motion monitoring. In addition, the PCBUIA ICE-based TENG was used as a wireless sensing terminal for Internet of Things smart devices to enable wireless sensing of finger motion state detection.

Graphical abstract: Low hysteresis zwitterionic supramolecular polymer ion-conductive elastomers with anti-freezing properties, high stretchability, and self-adhesion for flexible electronic devices

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
19 Feb 2024
Accepted
11 Mar 2024
First published
12 Mar 2024

Mater. Horiz., 2024,11, 2628-2642

Low hysteresis zwitterionic supramolecular polymer ion-conductive elastomers with anti-freezing properties, high stretchability, and self-adhesion for flexible electronic devices

H. Wang, B. Liu, D. Chen, Z. Wang, H. Wang, S. Bao, P. Zhang, J. Yang and W. Liu, Mater. Horiz., 2024, 11, 2628 DOI: 10.1039/D4MH00174E

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