Inkjet-printed SWCNT films for stretchable electrode and strain sensor applications

Abstract

Stretchable electronics is one of the most attractive research areas for next-generation electronics application, where most parts of devices need to show stable and good mechanical properties under flexible and bendable deformation conditions. [n order to implement stretchable electrodes, "soft metal" such as gold, silver, and copper has been widely used, but they showed relatively poor mechanical properties, especially in highly stretched cases. Therefore, metallic carbon nano tube (CNT) based materials have been considered the most adequate candidate in such conditions due to their excellent mechanical properties. In addition, relative easiness of controlling sensitivity of resistance change with applied strain is another advantage of the CNT based materials because their characteristics can be changed by various chemical treatment and structural changes. When the sensitivity is controlled to be large, the CNT films can be used as strain sensors.