Film made from siloxane rubber and carbon nanotubes is highly conductive

ERJ staff report (DS)

Tokyo -- Researchers in Japan have developed a highly-conductive film which could be used in electronic applications, yet can also stretch by 70 percent in bi-axial directions.

The researchers made a film of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), of length from 2mm - 4mm, and coated it with dimethyl-siloxane-based rubber. The resulting material exhibited a conductivity of 57 S/cm and stretchability of 134 percent.

Further, the elastic conductor was integrated with printed organic transistors to fabricate a rubber-like active matrix with an effective area of 20 x 20 square centimeters. Even after this, the film could be stretched by 70 percent without mechanical or electrical damage.

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Abstract of paper from Science