Flexible electronics substrate with excellent tear-resistant and high toughness using multi-material 3D printing AITranslate

Basic Information:

DOI：https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2024.103985

Chinese Library Classification Number:

Citation Information:

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with excellent stretchability and biocompatibility, has been widely used as a flexible substrate for wearable and stretchable electronics. However, the drawback of poor tear resistance of PDMS greatly limits its applications, such as flexible electronics. Herein, a gradient structure Ecoflex-PDMS-Ecoflex (E-P-E) combining PDMS and Ecoflex was proposed by combining multi-material 3D printing with functional gradient material design to improve the tear resistance of flexible substrates. The E-P-E gradient structure substrate has a 73 times increase in fracture energy and a 7 times increase in tear strength compared with conventional PDMS substrates. Liquid metal-based strain sensors made with our designed E-P-E gradient structure substrate can be directly worn on the finger with low hysteresis (0.47%), good cyclic stability (0.04% change in sensitivity after 1000 cycles of 100% strain), and high strain range (>180%), which showed a broad application prospect in the fields of human motion monitoring and human-computer interaction. Graphical Download : Download high-res image (121KB) Download : Download full-size image A gradient structure Ecoflex-PDMS-Ecoflex (E-P-E) combining PDMS and Ecoflex was proposed by combining multi-material 3D printing with functional gradient material design to improve the tear resistance of flexible substrates. The E-P-E structure synergistically integrated the benefits of PDMS and Ecoflex while exhibiting exceptional rebound elasticity and crack insensitivity, showcasing a robust overall mechanical performance. Compared with the conventional PDMS substrate, the fracture energy, tear strength, fracture stress, and fracture strain were enhanced by 73 times, 7 times, 12 times, and 6.5 times, respectively.