wileyonlinelibrary.comdiffi culty of uniformly dispersing both CNTs and graphene in polymer matrices and the high-performance demands of electrical conductivity without severe deterioration during stretching. First, because of the high aspect ratio and strong π-π interactions among carbon nano-materials, CNTs tend to bundle and aggregate, and graphene sheets are easy to stack in the matrices. [11][12][13] These processes would all have an adverse impact on the electrical performance of the SCMs. Second, partial breaks and cracks in the conductive networks of matrices are familiar occurrences when the SCMs are stretched to an extremely large strain, for example, 50%. [ 14 ] Therefore, the stretching range will be limited to maintain the excellent electrical performance of SCMs for practical applications.A large number of studies are targeted to addressing these limitations. [15][16][17][18] One attractive and effi cient method to improve the distribution and dispersion of these carbon nano-materials in SCMs is to construct their three-dimensional (3D) structures in advance and then impregnate them within the polymer. [ 23 ] Nevertheless, the commonly used 3D network preparation methods (e.g., organic sol-gel polymerization, [19][20][21] chemical and hydrothermal reduction, [ 22,23 ] and chemical vapor deposition [ 24,25 ] are complex, expensive and time consuming. Therefore, although these structures impart the SCMs with high electrical conductivity while maintaining a low nanofi ller loading, the large-scale manufacturing of CNTs and/or graphene 3D networks is still largely restricted. Moreover, the electrical conductivities of these 3D carbon nano-material-based polymer composites generally exhibit gradual decreases with increasing strains, [ 16,17 ] thereby resulting in signifi cantly reduced conductivities under large strains. For example, in our previous work, the conductivity of a CNT/graphene aerogel/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) fi lm exhibited a ≈30% decrease under 30% strain, [ 16 ] and a graphene foam/PDMS composite also revealed a 30% decrease under 50% strain. [ 13 ] This phenomenon is due to cracking of the conductive network under stretching, which would be more prominent under large deformations. Regarding this point, J. Park et al. provided a new design opportunity for obtaining high electrical conductivity performance from SCMs under large strains from the perspective of the polymer substrate. [ 18 ] Their specially designed porous PDMS exhibited a signifi cantly Here, a novel and facile method is reported for manufacturing a new stretchable conductive material that integrates a hybrid three dimensional (3D) carbon nanotube (CNT)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) network with a porous poly(dimethylsiloxane) (p-PDMS) elastomer (pPCG). This reciprocal architecture not only alleviates the aggregation of carbon nanofi llers but also signifi cantly improves the conductivity of pPCG under large strains. Consequently, the pPCG exhibits high electrical conductivity with a low nanofi ller loading (27 S m −1 wi...
New flexible and conductive materials (FCMs) comprising a quartz fiber cloth (QFC) reinforced multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-carbon aerogel (QMCA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) have been successfully prepared. The QMCA-PDMS composite with a very low loading of MWCNTs (∼1.6 wt%) demonstrates enhanced performance in tensile strength (129.6 MPa), modulus (3.41 GPa) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding efficiency (SE) (∼16 dB in X-band (8.2-12.4 GHz) region). Compared to the QC (where MWCNTs were simply deposited on the QFCs without forming aerogel networks) based PDMS composite, a ∼120%, 330% and 178% increase of tensile strength, modulus, and EMI SE was obtained, respectively. Moreover, the EMI SE of the QMCA-PDMS composite can further reach 20 dB (a SE level needed for commercial applications) with only 2 wt% MWCNTs. Furthermore, the conductivity of the QMCA-PDMS laminate can reach 1.67 S cm(-1) even with very low MWCNTs (1.6 wt%), which still remains constant even after 5000 times bending and exhibits an increase of ∼170% than that of MWCNT-carbon aerogel (MCA)-PDMS at 20% strain. Such intriguing performances are mainly attributed to their unique networks in QMCA-PDMS composites. In addition, these features can also protect electronics against harm from external forces and EMI, giving the brand-new FCMs huge potential in next-generation devices, like E-skin, robot joints and so on.
This symmetric kirigami-patterned film possesses excellent stretchability, superior conductive stability under large deformations, and good durability during repeated cycling tests.
The combination of carbon nanomaterial with three-dimensional (3D) porous polymer substrates has been demonstrated to be an effective approach to manufacture high-performance stretchable conductive materials (SCMs). However, it remains a challenge to fabricate 3D-structured SCMs with outstanding electrical conductivity capability under large strain in a facile way. In this work, the 3D printing technique was employed to prepare 3D porous poly(dimethylsiloxane) (O-PDMS) which was then integrated with carbon nanotubes and graphene conductive network and resulted in highly stretchable conductors (OPCG). Two types of OPCG were prepared, and it has been demonstrated that the OPCG with split-level structure exhibited both higher electrical conductivity and superior retention capability under deformations, which was illustrated by using a finite element method. The specially designed split-level OPCG is capable of sustaining both large strain and repeated deformations showing huge potential in the application of next-generation stretchable electronics.
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