Extraordinarily high conductivity of flexible adhesive films by hybrids of silver nanoparticle-nanowires

Material Design and Fabrication Strategies for Stretchable Metallic Nanocomposites

Stretchable conductive nanocomposites fabricated by integrating metallic nanomaterials with elastomers have become a vital component of human-friendly electronics, such as wearable and implantable devices, due to their unconventional electrical and mechanical characteristics. Understanding the detailed material design and fabrication strategies to improve the conductivity and stretchability of the nanocomposites is therefore important. This Review discusses the recent technological advances toward high performance stretchable metallic nanocomposites. First, the effect of the filler material design on the conductivity is briefly discussed, followed by various nanocomposite fabrication techniques to achieve high conductivity. Methods for maintaining the initial conductivity over a long period of time are also summarized. Then, strategies on controlled percolation of nanomaterials are highlighted, followed by a discussion regarding the effects of the morphology of the nanocomposite and postfabricated 3D structures on achieving high stretchability. Finally, representative examples of applications of such nanocomposites in biointegrated electronics are provided. A brief outlook concludes this Review.

A Superior Method for Constructing Electrical Percolation Network of Nanocomposite Fibers: In Situ Thermally Reduced Silver Nanoparticles

Nanocomposite fibers, composed of conductive nanoparticles and polymer matrix, are crucial for wearable electronics. However, the nanoparticle mixing approach results in aggregation and dispersion problems. A revolutionary synthesis method by premixing silver precursor ions (silver ammonium acetate) with polyvinyl alcohol is reported here. The solvation of ions-prevented aggregation, and uniformly distributed silver nanoparticles (in situ AgNPs, 77 nm) are formed after thermal reduction (155 °C) without using additional reducing or dispersion agents. The conductive fiber is synthesized by the wet spinning technology. After careful optimization, flower-shaped silver nanoparticles (AgNFs, 350-450 nm) are also employed as cofillers. The addition of in situ AgNPs (9.5 vol%) to AgNFs (30 vol%) increases electrical conductivity by 1434% (2090 to 32 064 S cm^-1 ) through the efficient construction of percolation networks. The in situ AgNPs provide significantly higher conductivity compared with other secondary nanoparticle fillers. The gaseous byproducts dramatically increase flexibility with a moderate compromise in tensile strength (55 MPa). The particle-free ion-level uniform mixing of silver precursors, followed by in situ reduction, would be a fundamental paradigm shift in nanocomposite synthesis.

Three-Dimensionally Printed Interconnects for Smart Contact Lenses

One of the ultimate wearable heath-monitoring gears, smart contact lens, requires miniaturized devices compounded and interconnected with each other on the lens for a successful system functioning. Because of the different device thickness, the interconnect patterns need to be three-dimensional (3D) conforming the steps given by the diversified on-lens devices. Also, the patterns should be low-temperature processed and flexible considering the mechanical and thermal property of the lens material. We demonstrate the 3D interconnects electrosprayed on a contact lens platform with Ag-Ag nanowire (NWs) composite ink conforming the steps. Quantitative and informative analysis on the interconnects is presented. Thick polyimide film (12.5 μm) in C-shape is employed as a primary substrate to form the 3D patterns that is to be transferred onto the contact lens. The AgNWs act as frames to support the Ag ion inks printed across the steps. The resultant interconnects realized with the Ag/AgNW composite ink with 0.3 wt % AgNW have the sheet resistance ( R_s) of 0.396 Ω/□ spanning the height difference of 300 μm. AgNWs also provide durability to the patterns against crack formation and propagation under significant device deformation. Unlike pure Ag pattern which shows the R_s changes of 86.1% in the bending condition, the optimally formulated composite pattern shows the suppressed R_s change of only 15.2% with a bending radius of 3 mm.

Investigation of silver (Ag) deposition in tissues from stranded cetaceans by autometallography (AMG)

Silver, such as silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), has been widely used in commercial products and may be released into the environment. The interaction between Ag deposition and biological systems is raising serious concerns because of one health consideration. Cetaceans, as the top predators of the oceans, may be exposed to Ag/Ag compounds and suffer negative health impacts from the deposition of these compounds in their bodies. In the present study, we utilized autometallography (AMG) to localize the Ag in the liver and kidney tissues of cetaceans and developed a model called the cetacean histological Ag assay (CHAA) to estimate the Ag concentrations in the liver and kidney tissues of cetaceans. Our results revealed that Ag was mainly located in hepatocytes, Kupffer cells and the epithelial cells of some proximal renal tubules. The tissue pattern of Ag/Ag compounds deposition in cetaceans was different from those in previous studies conducted on laboratory rats. This difference may suggest that cetaceans have a different metabolic profile of Ag, so a presumptive metabolic pathway of Ag in cetaceans is advanced. Furthermore, our results suggest that the Ag contamination in cetaceans living in the North-western Pacific Ocean is more severe than that in cetaceans living in other marine regions of the world. The level of Ag deposition in cetaceans living in the former area may have caused negative impacts on their health condition. Further investigations are warranted to study the systemic Ag distribution, the cause of death/stranding, and the infectious diseases in stranded cetaceans with different Ag concentrations for comprehensively evaluating the negative health effects caused by Ag in cetaceans.

Laser patterning of highly conductive flexible circuits

There has been considerable attention paid to highly conductive flexible adhesive (CFA) materials as electrodes and interconnectors for future flexible electronic devices. However, the patterning technology still needs to be developed to construct micro-scale electrodes and circuits. Here we developed the selective laser sintering technology where the pattering and curing were accomplished simultaneously without making additional masks. The CFA was composed of micro-scale Ag flakes, multiwalled carbon nanotubes decorated with Ag nanoparticles, and a nitrile-butadiene-rubber matrix. The Teflon-coated polyethylene terephthalate film was used as a flexible substrate. The width of lines (50-500 μm) and circuit patterns were controlled by the programmable scanning of a focused laser beam (power = 50 mW, scanning speed = 1 mm s^-1). The laser irradiation removed solvent and induced effective coalescence among fillers providing a conductivity as high as 25 012 S cm^-1. The conductivity stability was excellent under the ambient air and humid environments. The normalized resistance change of the pattern was smaller than 1.2 at the bending radius of 5 mm. The cyclability and adhesion of the laser-sintered line pattern on the substrate was excellent. A flexible circuit was fabricated sequentially for operating light emitting diodes during the bending motion, demonstrating excellent feasibility for practical applications in flexible electronics.

Temperature-controlled transparent-film heater based on silver nanowire-PMMA composite film

We fabricated a high-performance film heater based on a silver nanowire and polymethyl methacrylate (Ag NW-PMMA) composite film, which was synthesized with the assistance of mechanical lamination and an in situ transfer method. The films exhibit excellent conductivity, high figure of merit, and strong adhesion of percolation network to substrate. By controlling NW density, we prepared the films with a transmittance of 44.9-85.0% at 550 nm and a sheet resistance of 0.13-1.40 Ω sq^-1. A stable temperature ranging from 130 °C-40 °C was generated at 3.0 V within 10-30 s, indicating that the resulting film heaters show a rapid thermal response, low driving voltage and stable temperature recoverability. Furthermore, we demonstrated the applications of the film heater in defrosting and a physical therapeutic instrument. A fast defrosting on the composite film with a transmittance of 88% was observed by applying a 9 V driving voltage for 20 s. Meanwhile, we developed a physical therapeutic instrument with two modes of thermotherapy and electronic-pulse massage by using the composite films as two electrodes, greatly decreasing the weight and power consumption compared to a traditional instrument. Therefore, Ag NW-PMMA film can be a promising candidate for diversified heating applications.