Highly stretchable metallic silver electrodes on poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrate

Abstract

In this study, Ag stretchable electrodes with a very high stretching capability, exceeding 59 %, were fabricated using a combination of prestretching and O2 plasma treatments on poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrates. The resistance increased by a factor of only 4.8 compared to the initial value when 59% strain was applied. The high performance of the O2-plasma-treated sample is attributed to the initial formation of large periodic wavy structures without cracks, which effectively release the external strain under the stretched condition. In addition, the sample showed a stable operation with no variation in the resistance under prolonged and cyclic strains of 20 % for 500 cycles. Owing to the simple fabrication process and high performance, it is expected that the Ag electrodes can be used for high-end applications such as interconnections of devices and circuits.