Work

Designing pores to suppress crack generation at the interface between serpentine interconnects and elastomers for highly durable stretchable electronics

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Serpentine interconnects enable rigid materials to have high stretchability. They are considered to be very effective architectures to enable stretchable electronics. Therefore, research has primarily focused on exploring serpentine-based designs to enhance the stretchability of the interconnect itself. However, in practical applications, the interfacial cracks caused by repetitive stretching becomes a critical issue if serpentine interconnects are encapsulated within a polymer matrix. Here, we introduce geometrically engineered pores in a polymer matrix to suppress interfacial cracks under stretching. The serpentine interconnects with optimized pores in a polymer matrix improved mechanical stability (strain at failure, fatigue life) and electrical stability compared with those without pores. Furthermore, these strategies enabled the demonstration of a stretchable light-emitting diodes (LED) array and an electrical heater.

Source: Materials Horizons

DOI: 10.1039/d5mh00555h

Authors: Seungkyu Lee, Jun Chang Yang, Steve Park

Institutions: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute

Language: English

Topic: Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Research Foundation of Korea, LG Display, National Research Council of Science and Technology