Miura-ori Metastructure Enhanced Conductive Elastomers

Electrically conductive nanocomposite elastomers are widely used in wearable electronics and for monitoring personal health owing to their great stretchability and flexibility. However, working as interconnectors to transmit signals, the conductive elastomer is limited due to the large resistance variation under deformation that results in inaccuracy and reliability issues of the whole system. Herein, a new technology employing a Miura-ori metastructure, together with surface buckling structure, into the nanocomposite elastomer system to fabricate a highly electrically stable conductive elastomer under deformation is reported. As a comparison, conductive elastomers with three different structures, namely Miura-ori, wavy, and plane structures, are fabricated from multi-walled carbon nanotubes and Ecoflex. Metal films are deposited on top of these three structures to enhance the conductivity of the composite system and to further verify the attachment-enhanced structural ability. The Miura-ori structure, together with a buckled surface, is able to reduce stress concentration at local points under stretching, which helps provide the nanocomposite elastomers with highly improved electrical stability.