title: A highly stretchable, transparent, and conductive polymer.
abstract: Previous breakthroughs in stretchable electronics stem from strain engineering and nanocomposite approaches. Routes toward intrinsically stretchable molecular materials remain scarce but, if successful, will enable simpler fabrication processes, such as direct printing and coating, mechanically robust devices, and more intimate contact with objects. We report a highly stretchable conducting polymer, realized with a range of enhancers that serve a dual function: (i) they change morphology and (ii) they act as conductivity-enhancing dopants in poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The polymer films exhibit conductivities comparable to the best reported values for PEDOT:PSS, with over 3100 S/cm under 0% strain and over 4100 S/cm under 100% strain-among the highest for reported stretchable conductors. It is highly durable under cyclic loading, with the conductivity maintained at 3600 S/cm even after 1000 cycles to 100% strain. The conductivity remained above 100 S/cm under 600% strain, with a fracture strain of 800%, which is superior to even the best silver nanowire- or carbon nanotube-based stretchable conductor films. The combination of excellent electrical and mechanical properties allowed it to serve as interconnects for field-effect transistor arrays with a device density that is five times higher than typical lithographically patterned wavy interconnects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Chenxin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7232-1845
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfattner
authors.affiliation: Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Hongping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Shucheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4329-4059
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Molina-Lopez
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0254-4565
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lissel
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Noelle I
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2041-6666
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Rabiah
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.; Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do 443-803, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Linder
authors.affiliation: Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Toney
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Murmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Zhenan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bao
keywords: Stretchable electronics; conducting polymer; field-effect transistors; ionic dopant; patterning; plasticizer; polymer characterization; rigid-island; soft interface; transparent electrode