Printed High-Adhesion Flexible Electrodes Based on an Interlocking Structure for Self-Powered Intelligent Movement...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Flexible Electronics

Background:

• Two-dimensional transition metal carbide nitrides (MXenes) are promising for energy storage and flexible electronics.
• Current solution-processed MXene devices face challenges in large-scale, high-resolution printing for flexible electronics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel strategy for creating high-resolution, flexible MXene-based electrodes with enhanced adhesion.
• To demonstrate the application of these electrodes in self-powered sensors.

Main Methods:

• A porous interlocking structure was engineered to create flexible MXene/laser-induced graphene (LMX) composite electrodes.
• The mechanical and electrical properties of LMX electrodes were characterized.
• LMX-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) were fabricated and tested as self-powered motion sensors.

Main Results:

• The LMX electrodes exhibited enhanced mechanical properties, with an adhesive strength of 2.17 MPa.
• Comparable electrical conductivity (0.68 S/mm) was maintained compared to traditional MXene electrodes.
• A LMX-based TENG successfully functioned as a self-powered sensor for monitoring finger-bending movement with high accuracy using SVM.

Conclusions:

• The porous interlocking structure strategy enables the direct printing of flexible electrodes with excellent mechanical and electrical properties.
• This approach holds promise for advancing flexible printed electronics and self-powered sensing applications.
• The method can potentially be extended to other solution-processed two-dimensional materials.