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Large-area, kirigami topology structure-induced highly stretchable and flexible interconnects: Directly printing preparation and mechanic mechanism

剪纸拓扑结构引发的大面积高可拉伸柔性互连电极: 直接印刷法制备和力学机理

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Abstract

Integrating the topology design and printing method offers a promising methodology to realize large stretchability for interconnects. Herein, eco-friendly and water-based Ag nanowires (NWs) inks were formulated and used for screen-printing highly stretchable and flexible interconnects on a large area (more than 335 mm × 175 mm). The stretchability of the interconnects was realized by introducing kirigami topology structures. The topology designed models were established to simulate the influence of kirigami patterns on wire compliance and to estimate the maximum stretchability via finite element analysis (FEA). The mechanic mechanism results demonstrate that an increase of the wave numbers results in larger stretchability, and the rectangular type of wave shows better stretchability than the zigzag and sine structures. Comparatively, the electrical and mechanical properties of the interconnects were measured and analyzed, and the experimental results were consistent with FEA. The electric conductivity of the interconnects is stable at ∼10,427 S cm−1 even after 1000 cycles of 15.83 mm radius bending, 280% stretching and 200% twisting-stretching deformation, demonstrating outstanding mechanical reliability of the interconnects. The topology designed interconnects have been applied in stretchable flexible light-emitting diode, indicating their broad application prospects in next-generation stretchable electronics.

摘要

结合拓扑设计和印刷方法来实现高可拉伸性互连电极的制 备有望成为一种非常有前途的策略. 本文借助丝网印刷技术, 所配 制的银纳米线水性油墨被用于制备大面积(超过335 mm × 177 mm) 的高可拉伸柔性互连电极. 电极的可拉伸性通过引入剪纸拓扑结 构来实现, 并通过有限元法分析了所设计的系列剪纸拓扑模型对 变形顺应性的影响, 以此探究其最优拉伸性. 系统的力学机理分析 表明结构的可拉伸性随着波数的增加而增加, 与锯齿形波和正弦 形波剪纸结构相比, 矩形波结构具有最佳可拉伸性. 此外, 电极的 电学性能测试结果与有限元分析预测的结果相一致. 该方法制备 的互连电极具有 ∼10427 S cm−1 的高电导率, 并且表现出优异的力 学稳定性, 经过 1000次的弯曲循环(弯曲半径为 15.83 mm)、拉伸 循环(拉伸率为280%)和扭转-拉伸循环(扭转 180°, 拉伸率为 200%) 测试, 电导率始终保持稳定. 基于拓扑设计的互连电极被应用于可 拉伸柔性LED电路, 进一步证明其在下一代可拉伸电子产品中具有 广泛的应用前景.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (51471121), the Basic Research Plan Program of Shenzhen City (JCYJ20170303170426117), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20160383), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2042018kf203) and Wuhan University.

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  1. These authors contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Printable Functional Nanomaterials and Printed Electronics, School of Printing and Packaging, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Xuan Li  (李瑄), Weijing Yao  (姚伟睛), Li Liu  (刘力), Bin Tian  (田彬), Huanjun Wang  (王焕军), Yu Feng  (冯宇) & Wei Wu  (吴伟)

  2. Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Machinery Transients, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Xiaoli Ruan  (阮小莉) & Re Xia  (夏热)

  3. Shenzhen Research Institute of Wuhan University, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Xuan Li  (李瑄) & Wei Wu  (吴伟)

Authors
  1. Xuan Li  (李瑄)
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  2. Xiaoli Ruan  (阮小莉)
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  4. Li Liu  (刘力)
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  8. Re Xia  (夏热)
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Contributions

Author contributions Li X, Ruan X, Xia R and Wu W conceived the project and wrote the paper. Li X and Wu W designed the experiments. Li X performed the fabrication of the interconnects and measured the electrical and mechanical properties. Ruan X conducted the theoretical simulations via finite element analysis. Yao W, Liu L, Tian B, Wang H and Feng Y provided inputs into the design of the experiments and the preparation of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Re Xia  (夏热) or Wei Wu  (吴伟).

Additional information

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Xuan Li is currently pursuing a Master degree under the supervision of Prof. Wei Wu in the School of Printing and Packaging at Wuhan University. His current research focuses on the functional nanomaterials for printed electronics.

Xiaoli Ruan is currently pursuing a Master degree under the supervision of Prof. Re Xia in the School of Power and Mechanical Engineering at Wuhan University. Her current research focuses on the mechanical properties of the composite materials.

Re Xia received his PhD degree in 2010 from the Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, China. He has been an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University since 2011. He is currently the deputy director of the Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Machinery Transients (Wuhan University), Ministry of Education. His research interests include the mechanical properties of nanoporous materials and composite structures.

Wei Wu received his PhD degree in 2011 from the Department of Physics, Wuhan University, China. He then joined the groups of Prof. Daiwen Pang at Wuhan University (2011) and Prof. V. A. L. Roy at the City University of Hong Kong (2014) as a postdoctoral fellow. Now he is the full professor and Director of the Laboratory of Printable Functional Nanomaterials and Printed Electronics, School of Printing and Packaging, Wuhan University. He has published more than 80 papers, which have received more than 4000 citations. He received the STAM Best Paper Award in 2017 and Hong Kong Scholars Award in 2014. He is also the topical editor of Frontiers in Materials. His research interests include the synthesis and applications of functional nanomaterials, printed electronics and intelligent packaging.

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40843_2019_9447_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Large-area, kirigami topology structure-induced highly stretchable and flexible interconnects: Directly printing preparation and mechanic mechanism

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Li, X., Ruan, X., Yao, W. et al. Large-area, kirigami topology structure-induced highly stretchable and flexible interconnects: Directly printing preparation and mechanic mechanism. Sci. China Mater. 62, 1412–1422 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-019-9447-0

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