Strain-invariant, highly water stable all-organic soft conductors based on ultralight multi-layered foam-like framework structures

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel all-organic, multi-layered foam-like soft conductor that is strain-invariant, highly water-stable, and suitable for flexible electronics and biomedical applications.

Contribution

The study presents a new multi-layered foam-like composite structure based on PEDOT:PSS and PTFE that maintains conductivity under deformation and water exposure, surpassing previous soft conductors.

Findings

Conductivity up to 184 S/m maintained under 80% compression and 25% tension.

Retains electrical and mechanical properties after 2000 cycles at 50% compression.

Highly hydrophobic, stable in water for 30 days.

Abstract

Soft and flexible conductors are essential in the development of soft robots, wearable electronics, as well as electronic tissue and implants. However, conventional soft conductors are inherently characterized by a large change in conductance upon mechanical deformation or under alternating environmental conditions, e.g., humidity, drastically limiting their application potential and performance. Here, we demonstrate a novel concept for the development of strain-invariant, fatigue resistant and highly water stable soft conductor. By combining different thin film technologies in a three-dimensional fashion, we develop nano- and micro-engineered, multi-layered (< 50 nm), ultra-lightweight (< 15 mg/cm$^3$) foam-like composite framework structures based on PEDOT:PSS and PTFE. The all-organic composite framework structures are characterized by conductivities of up to 184 S/m, remaining strain-invariant between 80 % compressive and 25 % tensile strain. We further show, that the multi-layered composites are characterized by properties that surpass that of framework structures based on the individual materials. Both, the initial electrical and mechanical properties of the composite framework structures are retained during long-term cycling, even after 2000 cycles at 50 % compression. Furthermore, the PTFE functionalization renders the framework structure highly hydrophobic, resulting in stable electrical properties, even when immersed in water for up to 30 days. The here presented concept overcomes the previous limitations of strain-invariant soft conductors and demonstrates for the first time a versatile approach for the development of innovative multi-scaled and multi-layered functional materials, for applications in soft electronics, energy storage and conversion, sensing, catalysis, water and air purification, as well as biomedicine.