Arbitrary alignment-angle control method of electrospun fibers: potential for a stretchable electrode material

Abstract

Uniform and reproducible alignment methods for one-dimensional structures, such as wires, tubes, and fibers are essential for the fabrication of commercial devices. This paper presents an arbitrary alignment-angle control method. The mechanical stretching of arbitrarily aligned fibers can be increased by as much as 120%. Stretchable electrodes that stably maintain their electro-optical properties against large mechanical deformations are essential for the fabrication of wearable electronics. For randomly distributed fibers, fiber-to-fiber contact resistance has a detrimental effect on the carrier transport. The proposed method aligns fibers into a uniform array to reduce the fiber-to-fiber contact resistance between fibers using parallel-aligned bars. The results demonstrate the feasibility of applying the transfer-free alignment method along a specific alignment-angle for fabricating stretchable metal fiber networks. Fibers are aligned directly onto the sample surface by mounting the alignment jig onto the conventional collecting plate. This transfer-free strategy avoids the deformation and overlap of aligned patterns during the conventional transferring process.