Intense pulse light sintering of an Ag microparticle-based, highly stretchable, and conductive electrode

This study proposes a highly stretchable, conductive electrode based on micro-sized Ag particles and Ag flakes incorporated into a polyester binder. The use of the microparticles in fabricating the stretchable electrode has several advantages over the spherical nanoparticles, namely, affordable, easier to synthesize, slower oxidation, and higher aspect ratio. Intense pulsed light (IPL) was employed to sinter the stretchable composite electrode printed on a polyurethane substrate. IPL was found to be an effective and fast sintering technique that lasts within seconds for stretchable electrodes consisting of Ag microparticles. The electrical and electromechanical properties were examined with varying the IPL energy intensities. The optimum IPL energy intensity was found to be 2 J/cm² without damaging the substrate. The stretchable electrodes exhibited superior stretchability of 170% strain and high mechanical stability of over 1000 stretching cycles under 50% strain. The stretchable electrodes exhibited excellent bendability, as they could be bent up to 1 mm and withstand 1000 repetitive bending cycles at a bending radius of 2 mm. The electrodes also showed a robust static bending endurance during the 240 h test and excellent adhesion strength. The electromechanical properties of the stretchable electrode could be further enhanced by minimizing the pores and voids inside the electrode during the synthesis and sintering process.