Highly Stretchable Conductors Integrated with a Conductive Carbon Nanotube/Graphene Network and 3D Porous Poly(dimethylsiloxane)

Here, a novel and facile method is reported for manufacturing a new stretchable conductive material that integrates a hybrid three dimensional (3D) carbon nanotube (CNT)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) network with a porous poly(dimethylsiloxane) (p-PDMS) elastomer (pPCG). This reciprocal architecture not only alleviates the aggregation of carbon nanofillers but also significantly improves the conductivity of pPCG under large strains. Consequently, the pPCG exhibits high electrical conductivity with a low nanofiller loading (27 S m(-1) with 2 wt% CNTs/graphene) and a notable retention capability after bending and stretching. The simulation of the mechanical properties of the p-PDMS model demonstrates that an extremely large applied strain (epsilon(appl)) can be accommodated through local rotations and bending of cell walls. Thus, after a slight decrease, the conductivity of pPCG can continue to remain constant even as the strain increases to 50%. In general, this architecture of pPCG with a combination of a porous polymer substrate and 3D carbon nanofiller network possesses considerable potential for numerous applications in next-generation stretchable electronics.