Soft Electronic Block Copolymer Elastomer Composites for Multi‐Material Printing of Stretchable Physiological Sensors on Textiles

Soft and stretchable electronic materials have a number of unique applications, not least within sensors for monitoring human health. Through development of appropriate inks, micro‐extrusion 3D printing offers an appealing route for integrating soft electronic materials within wearable garments. Tow...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Advanced electronic materials Vol. 9; no. 5
Main Authors:	Pless, Christian J., Nikzad, Shayla, Papiano, Irene, Gnanadass, Samson, Kadumudi, Firoz B., Dolatshahi‐Pirouz, Alireza, Thomsen, Carsten Eckhart, Lind, Johan U.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Seoul John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-05-2023 Wiley-VCH
Subjects:	198/200 3D printing Additives biosensors Block copolymers Carbon black Conducting polymers Conductivity Elastomers Electrical resistivity Electrocardiography Electronic materials Electronics Ethylene Extrusion Inks Ion currents Mechanical properties microextrusion Nanoparticles Physiology Polymers Rheology Semiconductors Sensors Silver Solvents Strain Stretchability stretchable electronics Styrenes Textile composites Textiles Three dimensional composites Three dimensional printing Viscosity wearables
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Summary:	Soft and stretchable electronic materials have a number of unique applications, not least within sensors for monitoring human health. Through development of appropriate inks, micro‐extrusion 3D printing offers an appealing route for integrating soft electronic materials within wearable garments. Toward this objective, here a series of conductive inks based on soft thermoplastic styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene elastomers combined with silver micro‐flakes, carbon black nanoparticles, or poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) conducting polymer additives, is developed. Their electrical and mechanical properties are systematically compared and found to be highly dependent on additive amount and type. Thus, while silver composites offer the highest conductivity, their stretchability is far inferior to carbon black composites, which can maintain conductivity beyond 400% strain. The PEDOT composites are the least conductive and stretchable but display unique properties due to their propensity for ionic conductivity. To integrate these inks, as well as insulating counterparts, into functional designs, a multi‐material micro‐extrusion 3D printing routine for direct deposition onto stretchable, elastic fabrics is established. As demonstration, prototypes are produced for sensing common health markers including strain, physiological temperatures, and electrocardiograms. Collectively, this work demonstrates multi‐material 3D printing of soft styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene elastomer composites as a versatile method for fabricating soft bio‐sensors. A widely applicable library of electrically conducting 3D printable block copolymer inks is presented. By logical and systematic variation of additives and loading, elastomer composites that are highly stretchable, conducting or thermosensitive, are developed. Stretchable, textile‐based biosensors of health markers such as strain, physiological temperatures, and electrocardiograms are made by integrating these composites using multi‐material micro‐extrusion procedures.
ISSN:	2199-160X 2199-160X
DOI:	10.1002/aelm.202201173