The fabrication and characterization of fibers that are ultrastretchable and have metallic electrical conductivity are described. The fibers consist of a liquid metal alloy, eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn), injected into the core of stretchable hollow fibers composed of a triblock copolymer, poly[styrene‐b‐(ethylene‐co‐butylene)‐b‐styrene] (SEBS) resin. The hollow fibers are easy to mass‐produce with controlled size using commercially available melt processing methods. The fibers are similar to conventional metallic wires, but can be stretched orders of magnitude further while retaining electrical conductivity. Mechanical measurements with and without the liquid metal inside the fibers show the liquid core has a negligible impact on the mechanical properties of the fibers, which is in contrast to most conductive composite fibers. The fibers also maintain the same tactile properties with and without the metal. Electrical measurements show that the fibers increase resistance as the fiber elongates and the cross sectional area narrows. Fibers with larger diameters change from a triangular to a more circular cross‐section during stretching, which has the appeal of lowering the resistance below that predicted by theory. To demonstrate their utility, the ultrastretchable fibers are used as stretchable wires for earphones and for a battery charger and perform as well as their conventional parts.
In this work, polyethersulfone (PES)/polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposite membranes were fabricated by immersion precipitation process through incorporation of uniform and welldispersed PANI nanorods. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) were used to identify the nanoparticle size and dispersion. The influence of incorporated PANI nanorods on membrane structure was investigated by attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Properties of nanocomposite membrane were evaluated by water contact angle, cross-flow ultrafiltration (UF) and antifouling measurements. The results indicated that the surface pore structure and hydrophilicity of PES membrane were improved by the incorporation of PANI nanorods. PES/PANI nanocomposite membrane showed higher flux and better antifouling property compared to the pure PES membrane without sacrificing the separation performance of BSA protein. Meanwhile, PES/PANI nanocomposite membrane was also used as the substrate to prepare gas separation composite membrane by coating polyvinylamine (PVAm) aqueous solution on the surface. The gas permeation results displayed that the PVAm/PES/PANI composite membrane exhibited higher gas permselectivity for CO 2 /N 2 separation than PVAm/PES composite membrane, which may result from the improved surface porosity of PES/PANI substrate and the improved interface adhesion between the selective layer and the substrate.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.