Issue 19, 2019

Conjugated polymers and composites for stretchable organic electronics

Abstract

Stretchable electronics has become a focus of interest amongst the academic research and industrial communities due to its potential to enable a wide variety of emerging applications, including wearable displays, energy-storage, skin-mounted sensors and biosensors, human-machine interfaces and soft robotics. To realise these applications, the devices are required to adhere and conform to soft curvilinear surfaces, while be able to bend, compress, stretch and even self-heal, much like the human skin. Organic materials, particularly, conjugated polymers possess a unique molecular structure, which enables their optical, electrical, and electrochemical properties. In fact, one of the main features that make these materials highly suitable for stretchable electronics is the chemically-tunable mechanical properties that allow structural deformation without significantly affecting the electronic function. In this review, we discuss ours and others’ recent attempts in designing and engineering conjugated polymers and their composites to incorporate new mechanical and physical characteristics that are not intrinsic to these organic materials, such as stretchability and self-healing abilities. We discuss such approaches from a molecular design perspective. In particular, the focus is on the molecular parameters, such as material choices, synthetic approaches and molecular interactions that play a crucial role in enabling such new characteristics. Furthermore, we highlight recent progress in their applications and discuss the future prospects of stretchable organic electronics.

Graphical abstract: Conjugated polymers and composites for stretchable organic electronics

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
06 Nah 2019
Accepted
10 Agd 2019
First published
11 Agd 2019

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2019,7, 5534-5552

Conjugated polymers and composites for stretchable organic electronics

M. Wang, P. Baek, A. Akbarinejad, D. Barker and J. Travas-Sejdic, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2019, 7, 5534 DOI: 10.1039/C9TC00709A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements