Ultrastretchable Iono-Elastomers with Mechanoelectrical Response

The emerging technologies involving wearable electronics require new materials with high stretchability, resistance to high loads, and high conductivities. We report a facile synthetic strategy based on self-assembly of concentrated solutions of end-functionalized PEO₁₀₆-PPO₇₀-PEO₁₀₆ triblock copolymer in ethylammonium nitrate into face-centered cubic micellar crystals, followed by micelle corona cross-linking to generate elastomeric ion gels (iono-elastomers). These materials exhibit an unprecedented combination of high stretchability, high ionic conductivity, and mechanoelectrical response. The latter consists of a remarkable and counterintuitive increase in ion conductivity with strain during uniaxial extension, which is reversible upon load release. Based on in situ SAXS measurements of reversible crystal structure transformations during deformation, we postulate that the origin of the conductivity increase is a reversible formation of ion nanochannels due to a novel microstructural rearrangement specific to this material.