Elastomer-Free,\nStretchable, and Conformable Silver\nNanowire Conductors Enabled by Three-Dimensional Buckled Microstructures

Abstract

Many\nthree-dimensional (3D) nanomaterial-based assemblies need\nincorporation with elastomers to attain stretchabilitythat\nalso compromises their pristine advantages for functional applications.\nHere, we show the design of elastomer-free, highly deformable silver\nnanowire (AgNW) conductors through dip-coating AgNWs on a 3D polymeric\nscaffold and following a simple triaxial compression approach. The\nresulting 3D AgNW conductors exhibit good stability of resistance\nunder multimodal deformation, such as stretching, compressing, and\nbending as well as comparable conductivity with those elastomer-based\nones. Moreover, the buckled structures endow our 3D conductors with\nnovel negative Poisson’s ratio behavior, which can offer good\ncomfortability to curvilinear surfaces. The combination of mechanical\nproperties, conductive performance, and unique deformation characteristics\ncan satisfy multiscale conformal mechanics with a soft, curvilinear\nhuman body.