Flexible conductive blend of natural rubber latex with PEDOT:PSS

• Published in: APL materials Vol. 8; no. 12; pp. 121107 - 121107-8
• Main Authors: Boratto, Miguel H., Nozella, Natan L., Ramos, Roberto A., Silva, Rafael Aparecido da, Graeff, Carlos F. O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing LLC 01.12.2020
• ISSN: 2166-532X; 2166-532X
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0017936

Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) obtained from Hevea brasiliensis is a biocompatible electrically insulating material with exceptional mechanical properties. Poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) poly(styrene sulfonate), PEDOT:PSS, on the other hand, is a biocompatible highly conductive organic material with poor flexibility. We hereby introduce a blend of NRL/PEDOT:PSS (N/P). This study involved different N/P volume ratios and temperatures of curing aiming at an optimal combination of good flexibility and conductivity. Low-temperature annealing, at 60 °C, dries and cures the blend in a few minutes and improves its tensile strength and conductivity. The blend can stretch more than 700% of its initial length and presents a good gauge factor and small resistance variation (R/R0) for ΔL/L0 of up to 100%. Among the different N/P concentrations, the membranes of an N/P ratio of 1/4 and those thermally cured have the most promising conductive flexible properties for bioelectronic applications.