Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics Fabrication
Great diversity of process technologies and materials have been developed around stretchable electronics. A subset of them, which are made up of zigzag metal foil and soft silicon polymers, show advantages of being easy to manufacture and low cost. However, most of the circuits lack durability due t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/9/10/519 |
| _version_ | 1818343219021217792 |
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| author | Kangmin Leng Chuanfei Guo Kang Wu Zhigang Wu |
| author_facet | Kangmin Leng Chuanfei Guo Kang Wu Zhigang Wu |
| author_sort | Kangmin Leng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Great diversity of process technologies and materials have been developed around stretchable electronics. A subset of them, which are made up of zigzag metal foil and soft silicon polymers, show advantages of being easy to manufacture and low cost. However, most of the circuits lack durability due to stress concentration of interconnects entirely embedded in elastic polymer silicone such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In our demonstration, tunnel encapsulation technology was introduced to relieve stress of these conductors when they were stretched to deform in and out of plane. It was realized by dissolving the medium of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA), previous cured together with circuits in polymer, to form the micro-tunnel which not only guarantee the stretchability of interconnect, but also help to improve the durability. With the protection of tunnel, the serpentine could stably maintain the designed shape and electrical performance after 50% strain cycling over 20,000 times. Finally, different materials for encapsulation were employed to provide promising options for applications in portable biomedical devices which demand duplicate distortion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T16:27:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-87c3bcb8f81b41c8a7dfac9a15e19bd6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-666X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T16:27:06Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Micromachines |
| spelling | doaj.art-87c3bcb8f81b41c8a7dfac9a15e19bd62022-12-21T23:38:35ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2018-10-0191051910.3390/mi9100519mi9100519Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics FabricationKangmin Leng0Chuanfei Guo1Kang Wu2Zhigang Wu3State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaGreat diversity of process technologies and materials have been developed around stretchable electronics. A subset of them, which are made up of zigzag metal foil and soft silicon polymers, show advantages of being easy to manufacture and low cost. However, most of the circuits lack durability due to stress concentration of interconnects entirely embedded in elastic polymer silicone such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In our demonstration, tunnel encapsulation technology was introduced to relieve stress of these conductors when they were stretched to deform in and out of plane. It was realized by dissolving the medium of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA), previous cured together with circuits in polymer, to form the micro-tunnel which not only guarantee the stretchability of interconnect, but also help to improve the durability. With the protection of tunnel, the serpentine could stably maintain the designed shape and electrical performance after 50% strain cycling over 20,000 times. Finally, different materials for encapsulation were employed to provide promising options for applications in portable biomedical devices which demand duplicate distortion.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/9/10/519stretchable electronicstunnel encapsulationPolyvinyl Alcoholdurability |
| spellingShingle | Kangmin Leng Chuanfei Guo Kang Wu Zhigang Wu Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics Fabrication Micromachines stretchable electronics tunnel encapsulation Polyvinyl Alcohol durability |
| title | Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics Fabrication |
| title_full | Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics Fabrication |
| title_fullStr | Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics Fabrication |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics Fabrication |
| title_short | Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics Fabrication |
| title_sort | tunnel encapsulation technology for durability improvement in stretchable electronics fabrication |
| topic | stretchable electronics tunnel encapsulation Polyvinyl Alcohol durability |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/9/10/519 |
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