Conductive materials that can conform to the human body and exhibit stable electrical output under strain is of great importance to the field of wearable electronics, particularly those with applications in biomedical research. 3D printing technology can enable the personalization of these materials and electronics so that they tailor fit each individual. The desired material needs to have good electrical conductivity, stretchability, compliant stiffness, high toughness, 3D printability, and preferably self-healing like the biological systems. In this talk, I will discuss the rational design and synthesis of a viscoelastic and self-healing conjugated polymer that can be 3D-printed. The viscoelasticity of the polymer can be tuned by the molecular structure and molecular weight of the dopant polymer. Room temperature self-healing capability is created by incorporating reversible bonding moieties into both the conjugated polymer and its dopant polymer. A water-based paste comprised of over 80% this conjugated polymer undergoes significant shear-thinning, allowing the material to be printed via the direct write assembly (DWA) method. The polymeric material exhibit conductivity over 300 S/cm, which can be further enhanced with the addition of Ag nanowire fillers.

Biomimetic, wearable organic electronics via 3D printing

256th National Meeting (2018)

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