High-Adhesion Stretchable Electrode via Cross-Linking Intensified Electroless Deposition on a Biomimetic Elastomeric Micropore Film

Abstract

For the stretchable electrode, strong interface adhesion is the primary guarantee for long service life, and the maximization of the tensile limit with remarkable electrical stability can expand the scope of its use. Here, a cost-effective strategy is proposed to fabricate a high-adhesion stretchable electrode. By modifying dopamine and functionalized silane on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate in sequence before the electroless deposition process, super-high adhesion up to 3.1 MPa is achieved between the PDMS substrate and silver layer, and the electrode exhibits extraordinary conductivity of 4.0 × 10 7 S/m. This process is also suitable for other common flexible substrates and metals. Moreover, inspired by the micro-/nanostructure on the surface of lotus leaf, a biomimetic elastomeric micropore film with a uniformly distributed micropore is fabricated by the one-step soft lithography replication process. The electrode exhibits a large tensile limit exceeding 70% uniaxial tensile and superior electrical stability from 6.3 to 11.5 Ω under 20% uniaxial tensile for more than 10 000 cycles. This study seeks a promising method to manufacture stretchable electrodes with high adhesion, large tensile limit, and excellent electrical stability, showing great potential to detect various biological signals including joint movement, surface electromyography, and so forth.

Interface Design for Stretchable Electronic Devices

“…Similarly, Wu et al demonstrated that an Ag layer plated on the biomimetic microporous elastomer substrate exhibited a strong adhesion (3.1 MPa) at the interface and showed a large tensile limit strain exceeding = 70%. [163] The microporous structure regularly adjusted the strain distribution and prevented the formation of large cracks while being stretched. The microstructured interface was also used for making robust electrode/electrolyte interface in the stretchable supercapacitor.…”

“…Introducing buckling, islands, or high relief structures into the interfaces could adjust the strain applied to the two different layers. [ 142–161 ] The adhesion between the two layers was increased by introducing microstructured surfaces at the interfaces, [ 142–166 ] such as interlocking metal nanopiles, [ 162 ] hydrogels, [ 164 ] and SBS block copolymers. [ 165,166 ] Interfacial adhesion between the multiple device components is an important issue for integrated stretchable devices.…”

Tough Carbon Nanotube‐Implanted Bioinspired Three‐Dimensional Electrical Adhesive for Isotropically Stretchable Water‐Repellent Bioelectronics

“…[ 5a ] The well‐known methods for fabricating CNT‐based flexible conductive devices include spray coating [ 9 ] and mixing. [ 4b,10 ] However, these processes currently have several drawbacks. While the direct spray coating method offers high conductivity, it is difficult to fabricate a stretchable electrode, because the CNT electrode is easily damaged by continuous tensile or external contact.…”

PI Film Laser Micro-Cutting for Quantitative Manufacturing of Contact Spacer in Flexible Tactile Sensor

“…Flexible tactile sensors are widely used in electronic skin [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], robots [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], wearable devices [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], etc. Depending on the source of the signal, the tactile sensors are classified into capacitive-type [ 10 , 11 ], piezoelectric-type [ 12 , 13 ], triboelectric-type [ 14 ] and piezoresistive-type [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”