Strain-resilient electrical functionality in thin-film metal electrodes using two-dimensional interlayers
Open accessAbstract
Flexible electrodes that allow electrical conductance to be maintained during mechanical deformation are required for the development of wearable electronics. However, flexible electrodes based on metal thin films on elastomeric substrates can suffer from complete and unexpected electrical disconnection after the onset of mechanical fracture across the metal. Here we show that the strain-resilient electrical performance of thin-film metal electrodes under multimodal deformation can be enhanced by using a two-dimensional interlayer. Insertion of atomically thin interlayers—graphene, molybdenum disulfide or hexagonal boron nitride—induces continuous in-plane crack deflection in thin-film metal electrodes. This leads to unique electrical characteristics (termed electrical ductility) in which electrical resistance gradually increases with strain, creating extended regions of stable resistance. Our two-dimensional interlayer electrodes can maintain a low electrical resistance beyond a strain at which conventional metal electrodes would completely disconnect. We use the approach to create a flexible electroluminescent light-emitting device with an augmented strain-resilient electrical functionality and an early damage diagnosis capability. Insertion of an atomically thin interlayer, such as graphene, between a metal thin film and a substrate can be used to create flexible electrodes with electrical performance that changes only gradually with strain and is resistant to abrupt mechanical failure.
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Some microscopic strain-sensing mechanisms-misplace, disconnection, and crack propagation-are not found in pressure sensing.
“It is worth noting that some microscopic mechanisms in strain sensing, like misplace,[173,174] disconnection,[175] and crack propagation[168,176] are not available in pressure sensing.”
From Flexible Electronics and Devices as Human–Machine Interfaces for Medical Robotics (2022) · cites this paper as [173]
The “In plane mechanical fracture modulation enabled by 2D interlayers” section reports crack propagation during bending and its effects on electrical conductance. It does not establish that crack propagation is a strain-sensing mechanism unavailable in pressure sensing. The citations for misplace and disconnection attach to other sources, so those examples are not assessed here. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Flexible Electronics and Devices as Human–Machine Interfaces for Medical Robotics
Heng, W., Solomon, S., & Gao, W. (2022) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.202107902 · Cited by 609 · see citing works
- Authors
- Cho, C., Kang, P., Taqieddin, A., Jing, Y., Yong, K., Kim, J. M., Haque, M. F., Aluru, N. R., & Nam, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Corresponding author
- Nam, SungWoo
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Electronics
- Published
- 2021-02-01
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 126-133
- ISSN
- 2520-1131 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8819722
- OpenAlex
- W3128159127
- Semantic Scholar
- da79e5401eec9e371a35c3327f4709224fca995d
- Cited by
- 136
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 8
- FWCI
- 6.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Electronics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (OCI1053575, OCI-0725070, ACI-1238993, and OAC-1818253, MRSEC DMR-1720633, ECCS-1935775, DMR-1708852, and CMMI-1554019)
- United States Department of Defense | United States Air Force | AFMC | Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA2386-17-1-4071)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX16AR56G and 80NSSC17K0149)
- United States Department of Defense | United States Navy | Office of Naval Research (N00014-17-1-2830)
- DOE | LDRD | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (B622092)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Keywords
- graphene, MoS2, hexagonal boron nitride, crack deflection, elastomeric substrates, damage diagnosis, wearable electronics, mechanical fracture
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