A highly stretchable, helical copper nanowire conductor exhibiting a stretchability of 700

Abstract

Recent advances in unconventional foldable and stretchable electronics have forged a new field in electronics. However, traditional conducting metal oxides and metal thin films are inappropriate as electrodes for stretchable devices because they are vulnerable to tensile strain as well as bending strain. In this study, we describe the fabrication of annealing-free, copper nanowire (CuNW)-based stretchable electrodes using an inexpensive metal source through a simple and scalable process at low temperature without a vacuum. We also introduce a reversible and extremely stretchable (up to 700% of strain) helical, CuNW-based conducting spring, which has not been previously used for stretchable electrodes.