Rubbery stretchable conductors based on 3D printed silver nanowires and their application in wearable optoelectronic devices

Abstract

Rubber-like intrinsically stretchable conductors that can maintain their electrical conductance during large mechanical deformation are essential to realize soft wearable optoelectronics, where large mechanical stretchability or deformation is involved. However, the scalable manufacturing of such rubbery conductors, particularly in a simple, reproducible manner, has been generally challenging and the related development is still at a premature stage. Here, we report the scalable manufacturing of high-performance stretchable conductors and their application in wearable optoelectronics. The rubbery conductors can be fabricated by an efficient, environmentally friendly and low-cost 3D printing direct writing transfer method. The printed conductor pattern can be controlled by adjusting the printing parameters easily. Based on the fabricated stretchable electrodes, wearable photodetectors and transistors are constructed and can function well under mechanical deformation.