title: Highly Stretchable and Highly Conductive PEDOT:PSS/Ionic Liquid Composite Transparent Electrodes for Solution-Processed Stretchable Electronics.
abstract: Stretchable conductive materials have received great attention owing to their potential for realizing next-generation stretchable electronics. However, the simultaneous achievement of excellent mechanical stretchability and high electrical conductivity as well as cost-effective fabrication has been a significant challenge. Here, we report a highly stretchable and highly conducting polymer that was obtained by incorporating an ionic liquid. When 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate (EMIM TCB) was added to an aqueous conducting polymer solution of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), it was found that EMIM TCB acts not only as a secondary dopant but also as a plasticizer for PEDOT:PSS, resulting in a high conductivity of >1000 S cm-1with stable performance at tensile strains up to 50% and even up to 180% in combination with the prestrained substrate technique. Consequently, by exploiting the additional benefits of high transparency and solution-processability of PEDOT:PSS, we were able to fabricate a highly stretchable, semitransparent, and wholly solution-processed alternating current electroluminescent device with unimpaired performance at 50% strain by using PEDOT:PSS/EMIM TCB composite films as both bottom and top electrodes.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, and ‡Heeger Center for Advanced Materials and Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , 123 Cheomdamgwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mei Ying
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Teo
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, and ‡Heeger Center for Advanced Materials and Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , 123 Cheomdamgwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Nara
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, and ‡Heeger Center for Advanced Materials and Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , 123 Cheomdamgwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Seyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kee
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, and ‡Heeger Center for Advanced Materials and Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , 123 Cheomdamgwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bong Seong
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, and ‡Heeger Center for Advanced Materials and Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , 123 Cheomdamgwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Geunjin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, and ‡Heeger Center for Advanced Materials and Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , 123 Cheomdamgwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soonil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, and ‡Heeger Center for Advanced Materials and Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , 123 Cheomdamgwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Suhyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, and ‡Heeger Center for Advanced Materials and Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology , 123 Cheomdamgwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kwanghee
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5907-8625
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: PEDOT:PSS; conducting polymers; ionic liquids; stretchable electronics; stretchable transparent electrodes