An official website of the United States government
3D architectures have been long harnessed to create lightweight yet strong cellular materials; however, the study regarding how 3D architectures facilitate the design of soft materials is at the incipient stage. Here, we demonstrate that 3D architectures can greatly facilitate the design of an intrinsically stretchable lattice conductor. We show that 3D architectures can be harnessed to enhance the overall stretchability of the soft conductors, reduce the effective density, enable resistive sensing of the large deformation of curved solids, and improve monitoring of a wastewater stream. Theoretical models are developed to understand the mechanical and conductive behaviors of the lattice conductor. We expect this type of lattice conductors can potentially inspire various designs of 3D-architected electronics for diverse applications from healthcare devices to soft robotics.
more »
« less
Tough-interface-enabled stretchable electronics using non-stretchable polymer semiconductors and conductors
- Award ID(s):
- 1925790
- PAR ID:
- 10494555
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Nanotechnology
- Volume:
- 17
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 1748-3387
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1265 to 1271
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Soft robot deformations are typically estimated using strain sensors to infer change from a nominal shape while taking a robot‐specific mechanical model into account. This approach performs poorly during buckling and when material properties change with time, and is untenable for shape‐changing robots that don't have a well‐defined resting (unactuated) shape. Herein, these limitations are overcome using stretchable shape sensing (S3) sheets that fuse orientation measurements to estimate 3D surface contours without making assumptions about the underlying robot geometry or material properties. The S3 sheets can estimate the shape of target objects to an accuracy of ≈3 mm for an 80 mm long sheet. The authors show the S3 sheets estimating their shape while being deformed in 3D space and also attached to the surface of a silicone three‐chamber pneumatic bladder, highlighting the potential for shape‐sensing sheets to be applied, removed, and reapplied to soft robots for shape estimation. Finally, the S3 sheets detecting their own stretch up to 30% strain is demonstrated. The approach introduced herein provides a generalized method for measuring the shape of objects without making strong assumptions about the objects, thus achieving a modular, mechanics model‐free approach to proprioception for wearable electronics and soft robotics.more » « less
-
A thin-film field-effect transistor (TFT) is a three-terminal device comprising source, drain, and gate electrodes, a dielectric layer, a semiconductor layer, and a substrate. The TFT is a fundamental building component in a variety of electronic devices. Developing an intrinsically stretchable TFT entails availability and usage of a functional material with elastomeric deformability in response to an externally applied stress. This represents a major materials challenge. In this article, we survey strategies to synthesize these elastomeric functional materials, and how these materials are assembled to fabricate intrinsically stretchable TFT devices. Developing solution-based printing technology to assemble intrinsically stretchable TFTs is considered a prospective strategy for wearable electronics for industrial adaptation in the near future.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01246-6
