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Originally published in Science Express on 7 August 2008
Science 12 September 2008:
Vol. 321. no. 5895, pp. 1468 - 1472
DOI: 10.1126/science.1160309
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Reports

A Rubberlike Stretchable Active Matrix Using Elastic Conductors

Tsuyoshi Sekitani,1 Yoshiaki Noguchi,1 Kenji Hata,2 Takanori Fukushima,3,4* Takuzo Aida,3,4 Takao Someya1,5{dagger}

By using an ionic liquid of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, we uniformly dispersed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as chemically stable dopants in a vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene copolymer matrix to form a composite film. We found that the SWNT content can be increased up to 20 weight percent without reducing the mechanical flexibility or softness of the copolymer. The SWNT composite film was coated with dimethyl-siloxane–based rubber, which exhibited a conductivity of 57 siemens per centimeter and a stretchability of 134%. Further, the elastic conductor was integrated with printed organic transistors to fabricate a rubberlike active matrix with an effective area of 20 by 20 square centimeters. The active matrix sheet can be uniaxially and biaxially stretched by 70% without mechanical or electrical damage. The elastic conductor allows for the construction of electronic integrated circuits, which can be mounted anywhere, including arbitrary curved surfaces and movable parts, such as the joints of a robot's arm.

1 Quantum-Phase Electronics Center, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
2 Research Center for Advanced Carbon Materials, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan.
3 Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
4 Nanospace Project, Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology–Solution Oriented Research for Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, 2-41 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan.
5 Collaborative Institute for Nano Quantum Information Electronics, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan.

* Present address: Advanced Science Institute, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: someya{at}ap.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
A curvy, stretchy future for electronics.
J. A. Rogers and Y. Huang (2009)
PNAS 106, 10875-10876
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)