Green preparation of carbon fiber/liquid silicone rubber composites for flexible electrode

Abstract Stretchable flexible conductive polymer composites (flexible electrodes) had become a research hot spot. In this paper, two-component room-temperature vulcanized liquid silicone rubber (LRTV) and short carbon fibers (CFs) were mixed by mechanical blending without solvent to prepare a tensile self-reply composites with high conductivity. The relationships between the average length, length distribution and content of CFs and the performance of CFs/LRTV composites were investigated. When the CFs length was 100 μm, the composites achieved a high conductivity. The composites conductivity threshold was reached when the CFs content was 3 wt%. In addition, the composites could be used as a conductor to light the bulb when the CFs content reached 8 wt%. The conductivity remained stable during cyclic stretching with a strain of 8%. The breaking and reconstruction of the internal 3D conductive network in the composites during the stretching process were discovered. The obtained results revealed that CFs/LRTV composites can be used as highly effective, flexible, stretchable electrode materials for stretchable displays, electronic skin, personalized healthcare.