Three-Dimensional Highly Stretchable Conductors from Elastic Fiber Mat with Conductive Polymer Coating

The manufacture of stretchable conductors with well-reserved electrical performance under large-degree deformations via scalable processes remains of great importance. In this work, a highly stretchable 3D conductive framework consisting of a polyurethane fiber mat (PUF) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is reported through facile approaches, electrospinning, and in situ interfacial polymerization, which was then backfilled with poly(dimethylsiloxane) to obtain 3D conductors. The excellent stretchability of the 3D conductive network imparted the as-prepared electrode a superior mechanical durability. Moreover, the applied strains can be effectively accommodated by the arrangement and orientation of the fibers resulting in a relatively stable electrical performance with only a 20% increased resistance at 100% stretching. Meanwhile, the resistance of the conductor could remain constant during 2000 bending cycles and showed a slight increase during 100 cycles of 50% stretching. The potential in the applications of large-area stretchable electrodes was demonstrated by the construction of LED arrays with the PUF-based conductors as electrical connections.