Metal-like Stretchable Nanocomposite Using Locally-Bundled Nanowires for Skin-Mountable Devices.

Stretchable conductive nanocomposites have been intensively studied for wearable bioelectronics. However, development of nanocomposites that simultaneously feature metal-like conductivity (> 100,000 S/cm) and high stretchability (> 100%) for high-performance skin-mountable devices is still extremely challenging. Here we present a material strategy for such a nanocomposite by using local bundling of silver nanowires stabilized with dual ligands (i.e., 1-propanethiols and 1-decanethiols). When the nanocomposite was solidified via solvent evaporation under a highly humid condition, the nanowires in the organic solution are bundled and stabilized. The resulting locally-bundled nanowires lower contact resistance while maintain their percolation network, leading to high conductivity. Dual ligands of 1-propanethiol and 1-decanethiol further boost up the conductivity. As a result, a nanocomposite with both high conductivity of ∼ 122,120 S/cm and high stretchability of ∼ 200% is obtained. Such superb electrical and mechanical properties are critical for various applications in skin-like electronics, and we herein demonstrated a wearable thermo-stimulation device. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.