Biocompatible Conductive Polymers with High Conductivity and High Stretchability

Abstract

Stretchable electronic materials have drawn strong interest due to their important applications in areas such as bioelectronics, wearable devices, and soft robotics. The stretchable electrode is an integral unit of stretchable systems. Intrinsically c o n d u c t i v e p o l y m e r s s u c h a s p o l y ( 3 , 4ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) can have high mechanical flexibility and good biocompatibility. However, their electrical conductivity and mechanical stretchability should be greatly improved for its applications as the stretchable electrode. Here, we report highly conductive and highly stretchable PEDOT:PSS by incorporating biocompatible D-sorbitol. D-Sorbitol can serve as both the secondary dopant and plasticizer for PEDOT:PSS. It can not only significantly improve the conductivity but also the stretchability. D-Sorbitol-PEDOT:PSS (s-PEDOT:PSS) can have a conductivity of >1000 S/cm, and the conductivity could be maintained at a strain up to 60%. The resistance of s-PEDOT:PSS remains almost constant during repeated stretching−releasing cycles. The mechanism for the stretchability improvement by D-sorbitol is ascribed to the softening of PSSH chains. D-Sorbitol can position among the PSSH chains and thus destructs the hydrogen bonds among the PSSH chains. This makes the conformational change of the PSSH chains under stress become easy and thus increases the mechanical flexibility of PEDOT:PSS. This conductivity is the highest for biocompatible intrinsically conductive polymers with high stretchability.

Design of intrinsically stretchable and highly conductive polymers for fully stretchable electrochromic devices

“…To measure the own properties of PEDOT:PSS and ISHCP without the elastomeric SEBS substrate, the freestanding sheets were obtained by casting and peeling off the petri dish. The freestanding sheets of neat PEDOT:PSS showed a high Young's modulus and fracture at 9% strain because it has no elasticity 21 . When a soft segment was included, such as EG and PEG, the fracture point was slightly increased, but the Young's modulus was still high.…”

Printed Electronics as Prepared by Inkjet Printing

“…After sufficient layers have been printed, the PEDOT:PSS pattern is comparable and consistent in terms of electrical performance and has been used in solar cells [45] and energy storage devices [46]. More importantly, PEDOT:PSS has proven to be biocompatible and has been used for lab-on-a-chip [47] and organ-on-a-chip [48] applications, as well as biocompatible stretchable devices [49].…”

Electrochemical Biosensors Based on Conducting Polymers: A Review

“…Conducting polymers have been widely used in the area of bioanalytical and biomedical science [52,53], drug delivery [54][55][56], tissue engineering [57][58][59], and cell culture [60][61][62] due to their intrinsic properties and biocompatibility [63][64][65][66]. In addition, conducting polymers represent an attractive sensitive material for biosensors due to their electrical properties that allow to convert biochemical information into electrical signals.…”