Animal bodies are mainly composed of hydrogels — polymer networks infiltrated with water. Most biological hydrogels are mechanically flexible yet robust, and they accommodate transportations (e.g., convection and diffusion) and reactions of various essential substances for life – endowing living bodies with exquisite functions such as sensing and responding, self-healing, self-reinforcing and self-regulating et al. To harness hydrogels’ unique properties and functions, intensive efforts have been devoted to developing various biomimetic structures and devices based on hydrogels. Examples include hydrogel valves for flow control in microfluidics[1], adaptive micro lenses activated by stimuli-responsive hydrogels[2], color-tunable colloidal crystals from hydrogel particles[3, 4], complex micro patterns switched by hydrogel-actuated nanostructures[5], responsive buckled hydrogel surfaces[6], and griping and self-walking structures based on hydrogels[7–9]. Entering the era of mobile health or mHealth, as unprecedented amounts of electronic devices are being integrated with human body[10–14], hydrogels with similar physiological and mechanical properties as human tissues represent ideal matrix/coating materials for electronics and devices to achieve long-term effective bio-integrations[15–17]. However, owing to the weak and brittle nature of common synthetic hydrogels, existing hydrogel electronics and devices mostly suffer from the limitation of low mechanical robustness and low stretchability. On the other hand, while hydrogels with extraordinary mechanical properties, or so-called tough hydrogels, have been recently developed[18–22], it is still challenging to fabricate tough hydrogels into stretchable electronics and devices capable of novel functions. The design of robust, stretchable and biocompatible hydrogel electronics and devices represents a critical challenge in the emerging field of soft materials, electronics and devices.
Highly transparent and stretchable Ag nanowire (NW)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hybrid electrodes were prepared on stretchable polyurethane substrates by using simple and cost-effective brush painting technique. The optimized Ag NW/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode showed a sheet resistance of 19.7 Ohm/square and a high optical transmittance of 88.64% comparable to conventional ITO electrode. It was found that shear stress of the paintbrush led to an effective lateral alignment of the Ag NWs into the PEDOT:PSS matrix during brush painting process. In addition, we investigated mechanical properties of the brush painted Ag NW/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode using inner/outer bending test, stretching tests, twisting test and rolling test in detail. The optimized brush painted Ag NW/PEDOT:PSS electrode showed a higher strain (~30%) than brush painted Ag NW or sputtered ITO electrode. Furthermore, we demonstrated the outstanding stretchability of brush painted Ag NW/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode in two applications: stretchable interconnectors and stretchable electrodes for stretchable and wearable thin film heaters. These results provide clear evidence for its potential and widespread applications in next-generation, stretchable displays, solar cells, and electronic devices.
The degradation mechanism and structural evolution of transparent ITO/Ag/ITO (IAI) multilayer films caused by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) were investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and synchrotron X-ray scattering analysis. The IAI multilayer with low sheet resistance of 9.51 Ω/square and high transmittance of 88.24% was significantly degraded after 600 °C RTA. Discontinuity, agglomeration of the embedded Ag layer at the interface region of the IAI multilayer, and oxygen diffusion through crystalline ITO grain boundaries into Ag layers led to electrical and optical degradation of the IAI multilayer. Using HRTEM analysis, the microstructures and interfaces of as-deposited and 600 °C annealed IAI multilayer films were compared to explain their electrical and optical degradation mechanisms.
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