TY - JOUR

T1 - Soft Electronic Block Copolymer Elastomer Composites for Multi-Material Printing of Stretchable Physiological Sensors on Textiles

AU - Pless, Christian J.

AU - Nikzad, Shayla

AU - Papiano, Irene

AU - Gnanadass, Samson

AU - Kadumudi, Firoz B.

AU - Dolatshahi-Pirouz, Alireza

AU - Thomsen, Carsten Eckhart

AU - Lind, Johan U.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Advanced Electronic Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Soft and stretchable electronic materials have a number of unique applications, not least within sensors for monitoring human health. Through development of appropriate inks, micro-extrusion 3D printing offers an appealing route for integrating soft electronic materials within wearable garments. Toward this objective, here a series of conductive inks based on soft thermoplastic styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene elastomers combined with silver micro-flakes, carbon black nanoparticles, or poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) conducting polymer additives, is developed. Their electrical and mechanical properties are systematically compared and found to be highly dependent on additive amount and type. Thus, while silver composites offer the highest conductivity, their stretchability is far inferior to carbon black composites, which can maintain conductivity beyond 400% strain. The PEDOT composites are the least conductive and stretchable but display unique properties due to their propensity for ionic conductivity. To integrate these inks, as well as insulating counterparts, into functional designs, a multi-material micro-extrusion 3D printing routine for direct deposition onto stretchable, elastic fabrics is established. As demonstration, prototypes are produced for sensing common health markers including strain, physiological temperatures, and electrocardiograms. Collectively, this work demonstrates multi-material 3D printing of soft styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene elastomer composites as a versatile method for fabricating soft bio-sensors.

AB - Soft and stretchable electronic materials have a number of unique applications, not least within sensors for monitoring human health. Through development of appropriate inks, micro-extrusion 3D printing offers an appealing route for integrating soft electronic materials within wearable garments. Toward this objective, here a series of conductive inks based on soft thermoplastic styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene elastomers combined with silver micro-flakes, carbon black nanoparticles, or poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) conducting polymer additives, is developed. Their electrical and mechanical properties are systematically compared and found to be highly dependent on additive amount and type. Thus, while silver composites offer the highest conductivity, their stretchability is far inferior to carbon black composites, which can maintain conductivity beyond 400% strain. The PEDOT composites are the least conductive and stretchable but display unique properties due to their propensity for ionic conductivity. To integrate these inks, as well as insulating counterparts, into functional designs, a multi-material micro-extrusion 3D printing routine for direct deposition onto stretchable, elastic fabrics is established. As demonstration, prototypes are produced for sensing common health markers including strain, physiological temperatures, and electrocardiograms. Collectively, this work demonstrates multi-material 3D printing of soft styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene elastomer composites as a versatile method for fabricating soft bio-sensors.

KW - (198/200)

KW - 3D printing

KW - biosensors

KW - microextrusion

KW - stretchable electronics

KW - wearables

U2 - 10.1002/aelm.202201173

DO - 10.1002/aelm.202201173

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85150853214

VL - 9

JO - Advanced Electronic Materials

JF - Advanced Electronic Materials

SN - 2199-160X

IS - 5

M1 - 2201173

ER -