Stretchable nanocomposite electrodes with tunable mechanical properties by supersonic cluster beam implantation in elastomers

Borghi, Francesca; Melis, Claudio; Ghisleri, C.; Podestà, Alessandro; Ravagnan, L.; Colombo, Luciano; Milani, Paolo

doi:10.1063/1.4916350

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The electrical percolation curve evolves upon implantation and the resistance decreases from 6 × 10 5 Ω to 10 2 Ω after the deposition of 27 nm thick film. After 30 nm thickness the ohmic regime is reached and no significant changes in the resistance are recorded. The implantation process is stopped at a thickness of 100 nm where the electrodes surface specific resistance is 95 Ω cm −2 .…”

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confidence: 99%

“…a) Schematic of the PAA‐co‐PAN network synthesis. b) Typical SCBI apparatus (adapted with permission). The mix of gas and clusters produced in a cluster source attached to the expansion chamber is accelerated and collimated by the aerodynamic focuser.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This metallization approach consists in directing a highly collimated beam of neutral metal clusters onto a polymeric target. By exploiting both the inertia of the nanoaggregates and their low kinetic energy (0.5 eV per atom), the clusters penetrate into the polymer, progressively creating a conductive layer up to the polymer surface, without any thermal damage or chemical modification of the organic substrate …”

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confidence: 99%

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Electroactive Ionic Soft Actuators with Monolithically Integrated Gold Nanocomposite Electrodes

et al. 2017

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Electroactive ionic gel/metal nanocomposites are produced by implanting supersonically accelerated neutral gold nanoparticles into a novel chemically crosslinked ion conductive soft polymer. The ionic gel consists of chemically crosslinked poly(acrylic acid) and polyacrylonitrile networks, blended with halloysite nanoclays and imidazolium-based ionic liquid. The material exhibits mechanical properties similar to that of elastomers (Young's modulus ≈ 0.35 MPa) together with high ionic conductivity. The fabrication of thin (≈100 nm thick) nanostructured compliant electrodes by means of supersonic cluster beam implantation (SCBI) does not significantly alter the mechanical properties of the soft polymer and provides controlled electrical properties and large surface area for ions storage. SCBI is cost effective and suitable for the scaleup manufacturing of electroactive soft actuators. This study reports the high-strain electromechanical actuation performance of the novel ionic gel/metal nanocomposites in a low-voltage regime (from 0.1 to 5 V), with long-term stability up to 76 000 cycles with no electrode delamination or deterioration. The observed behavior is due to both the intrinsic features of the ionic gel (elasticity and ionic transport capability) and the electrical and morphological features of the electrodes, providing low specific resistance (<100 Ω cm ), high electrochemical capacitance (≈mF g ), and minimal mechanical stress at the polymer/metal composite interface upon deformation.

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Electroactive Ionic Soft Actuators with Monolithically Integrated Gold Nanocomposite Electrodes

et al. 2017

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“…The quantification of the thickness change is difficult to obtain, since the nanocomposite Young's modulus is significantly different from that of the pristine elastomer, as discussed in detail in Ref. 26.…”

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Metal-polymer nanocomposite with stable plasmonic tuning under cyclic strain conditions

Minnai

Milani

2015

Applied Physics Letters

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We report the fabrication and characterization of stretchable nanocomposite films with mechanically tunable surface plasmon resonance. The films have been produced by implantation in a Polydimethylsiloxane substrate of neutral gold nanoparticles aerodynamically accelerated in a supersonic expansion. Optical absorption spectroscopy shows that uniaxial stretching of the nanocomposite induce a reversible redshift of the plasmon peak up to 180 nm from the peak wavelength of the non-stretched sample. The range of the plasmon peak shift depends upon the density of implanted nanoparticles. The optical behavior of the nanocomposite evolves upon cyclical stretching due to the rearrangement of the nanoparticles in the elastomeric matrix. We have identified the fabrication and post-deposition treatment conditions to stabilize the plasmonic shift upon cyclical stretching in order to obtain robust and large area nanocomposites with tunable and reproducible optical properties over a wide visible wavelength range.

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“…Electroactive Composites Uses of electroactive PDMS composites in microfluidics are essentially limited to acting as conducting composites in the fabrication of flexible electrode structures [51,52]. PDMS can be turned into a conductive material by adding, for instance, carbon black or metal powder in specific weight percentages in order to achieve good electrical conductivity [53] and tuned elastic properties [54]. Composites with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were used in [55] to develop a Reproduced with permission monolithic electrostatic actuator that scales at a rate of *100 actuators per cm 2 .…”

Section: Pdms Composite Actuatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stimulus-active polymer actuators for next-generation microfluidic devices

Hilber

2016

Appl. Phys. A

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Microfluidic devices have not yet evolved into commercial off-the-shelf products. Although highly integrated microfluidic structures, also known as lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and micrototal-analysis-system (lTAS) devices, have consistently been predicted to revolutionize biomedical assays and chemical synthesis, they have not entered the market as expected. Studies have identified a lack of standardization and integration as the main obstacles to commercial breakthrough. Soft microfluidics, the utilization of a broad spectrum of soft materials (i.e., polymers) for realization of microfluidic components, will make a significant contribution to the proclaimed growth of the LOC market. Recent advances in polymer science developing novel stimulus-active soft-matter materials may further increase the popularity and spreading of soft microfluidics. Stimulus-active polymers and composite materials change shape or exert mechanical force on surrounding fluids in response to electric, magnetic, light, thermal, or water/solvent stimuli. Specifically devised actuators based on these materials may have the potential to facilitate integration significantly and hence increase the operational advantage for the end-user while retaining costeffectiveness and ease of fabrication. This review gives an overview of available actuation concepts that are based on functional polymers and points out promising concepts and trends that may have the potential to promote the commercial success of microfluidics.

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Stretchable nanocomposite electrodes with tunable mechanical properties by supersonic cluster beam implantation in elastomers

Cited by 21 publications

References 27 publications

Electroactive Ionic Soft Actuators with Monolithically Integrated Gold Nanocomposite Electrodes

Electroactive Ionic Soft Actuators with Monolithically Integrated Gold Nanocomposite Electrodes

Metal-polymer nanocomposite with stable plasmonic tuning under cyclic strain conditions

Stimulus-active polymer actuators for next-generation microfluidic devices

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