Extremely stretchable and self-healing conductor based on thermoplastic elastomer for all-three-dimensional printed triboelectric nanogenerator

Abstract

Advances in next-generation soft electronic devices rely on the development of highly deformable, healable, and printable energy generators to power these electronics. Development of deformable or wearable energy generators that can simultaneously attain extreme stretchability with superior healability remains a daunting challenge. We address this issue by developing a highly conductive, extremely stretchable, and healable composite based on thermoplastic elastomer with liquid metal and silver flakes as the stretchable conductor for triboelectric nanogenerators. The elastomer is used both as the matrix for the conductor and as the triboelectric layer. The nanogenerator showed a stretchability of 2500% and it recovered its energy-harvesting performance after extreme mechanical damage, due to the supramolecular hydrogen bonding of the thermoplastic elastomer. The composite of the thermoplastic elastomer, liquid metal particles, and silver flakes exhibited an initial conductivity of 6250 S cm−1 and recovered 96.0% of its conductivity after healing.