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Thin Film Composite Silicon Elastomers for Cell Culture and Skin Applications: Manufacturing and Characterization
Published on: July 3, 2018
Extremely Soft, Stretchable, and Self-Adhesive Silicone Conductive Elastomer Composites Enabled by a Molecular
Jin Huang1, Lei Cao1, Cheng-Yuan Xue1
1Department of Chemistry, Institute of Biomimetic Materials & Chemistry, Anhui Engineering Laboratory of Biomimetic Materials, Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
Researchers developed a super soft, stretchable, and underwater adhesive silicone conductive elastomer composite. This material demonstrates excellent mechanical properties and stability, enabling applications in soft electronics and motion sensing.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Chemistry
- Soft Electronics
Background:
- Conductive elastomers are crucial for soft electronics, requiring properties like softness, adhesion, stretchability, and rapid recovery.
- Achieving a combination of these properties in conductive elastomers remains a significant challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate a multifunctional silicone conductive elastomer composite with enhanced softness, stretchability, and underwater adhesion.
- To investigate the mechanical and electrical properties of the developed composite.
Main Methods:
- Incorporation of dimethyl silicone oil as a lubricating agent into a cross-linked molecular network.
- Fabrication of the silicone conductive elastomer composite (SF-C-PDMS) in a one-step process at room temperature.
Main Results:
- The SF-C-PDMS composite exhibits super softness (Young's modulus 2.3-12 kPa) and high stretchability (up to 1500% strain).
- The material demonstrates excellent recovery after large deformations (1000% strain) and superior stability, with only an 8% decrease in resistance after 100,000 tensile fatigue cycles.
- The composite shows underwater adhesion capabilities.
Conclusions:
- A novel, multifunctional silicone conductive elastomer composite (SF-C-PDMS) was successfully synthesized using readily available materials.
- The developed composite offers a promising solution for high-performance soft electronics applications, including motion sensing, due to its unique combination of properties.
