Screen-printed high stretchability and conductivity horseshoe silver traces: fabrication and characterization
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2025
Abstract
This work explores stretchable silver (Ag)-based conductive traces for wearable electronic devices. Various aspects of the horseshoe-shaped stretchable Ag trace were investigated, including design principles, geometric effects on electrical and mechanical properties, techniques for achieving stretchability, fabrication materials and processes, and their efficacy in circuit connection. Systematic simulations and analysis generated an optimized horseshoe design with width and inner radius of 3 mm, angle of 30 degrees, turn number of 3, and thickness of 10-20 mu m, ensuring low resistance, high stretchability, and robust configuration simultaneously. A cost-efficient method based on screen printing and blade coating was employed to fabricate the Ag traces, which were thoroughly characterized in terms of static and dynamic electrical and mechanical properties, durability, and stability under various environmental temperatures. The measured results exhibit that (i) the printed Ag traces have high conductivity of more than 6000 S/cm; (ii) by utilizing stretchable Ag paste, pre-stretched elastic substrate, optimized horseshoe-shaped pattern, and ultra-thin PDMS cover, the printed Ag trace can achieve a stretchability of 50% with relative resistance change of < 80%, maintaining its resistance in the range of tens of ohms even under diverse mechanical deformations; (iii) the stretchable Ag trace shows an extraordinarily low and stable gauge factor of 1-1.5 at stretching strain range of 5-50%; (iv) significant durability, exceeding 3000 stretching/releasing cycles at a strain of 12.5% was obtained; and (v) the printed Ag trace shows good stability with varying environmental temperatures across diverse stretching states. In summary, this work contributes significantly to the promising domain of stretchable electronics by offering a cost-effective solution for fabricating high conductivity, good stretchability, and super durability metallic traces.
Keywords
Stretchable conductive trace, Horseshoe-shaped, Pre-stretched, Low-resistance, Low-cost, Biocompatible
Divisions
sch_ecs,universiti
Funders
MIMOS Berhad Malaysia
Publication Title
International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Volume
137
Issue
1-2
Publisher
Springer
Publisher Location
236 GRAYS INN RD, 6TH FLOOR, LONDON WC1X 8HL, ENGLAND