Tacky Elastomers to Enable Tear‐Resistant and Autonomous Self‐Healing Semiconductor Composites

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 30; no. 27
• Main Authors: Zhang, Song, Cheng, Yu‐Hsuan, Galuska, Luke, Roy, Anirban, Lorenz, Matthias, Chen, Beibei, Luo, Shaochuan, Li, Yen‐Ting, Hung, Chih‐Chien, Qian, Zhiyuan, St. Onge, Peter Blake Joseph, Mason, Gage T., Cowen, Lewis, Zhou, Dongshan, Nazarenko, Sergei I., Storey, Robson F., Schroeder, Bob C., Rondeau‐Gagné, Simon, Chiu, Yu‐Cheng, Gu, Xiaodan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2020; Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
• Subjects: air‐stable devices; autonomous self‐healing; Butyl rubber; Crack propagation; crack resistance; Cyclic loads; Elastic deformation; Elastomers; Electronics; Formability; Healing; Materials science; Modulus of elasticity; Notches; Polymer films; Polymer matrix composites; Polymers; Room temperature; semiconducting polymers; Strain; Thin films
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202000663

Mechanical failure of π‐conjugated polymer thin films is unavoidable under cyclic loading conditions, due to intrinsic defects and poor resistance to crack propagation. Here, the first tear‐resistant and room‐temperature self‐healable semiconducting composite is presented, consisting of conjugated polymers and butyl rubber elastomers. This new composite displays both a record‐low elastic modulus (<1 MPa) and ultrahigh deformability with fracture strain above 800%. More importantly, failure behavior is not sensitive to precut notches under deformation. Autonomous self‐healing at room temperature, both mechanical and electronic, is demonstrated through the physical contact of two separate films. The composite film also shows device stability in the ambient environment over 5 months due to much‐improved barrier property to both oxygen and water. Butyl rubber is broadly applicable to various p‐type and n‐type semiconducting polymers for fabricating self‐healable electronics to provide new resilient electronics that mimic the tear resistance and healable property of human skin. A mechanically durable and electronically stable semiconducting composite is engineered by introducing a blend of donor–acceptor polymer and butyl rubber elastomer. The composite exhibits ultralow modulus, ultrahigh deformability, tear resistance, and self‐healing performance, as well as ambient stable device stability. This method is widely applicable to different semiconducting polymers.