Tough soldering for stretchable electronics by small-molecule modulated interfacial assemblies

作者：Liqing Ai, Weikang Lin, Chunyan Cao, Pengyu Li, Xuejiao Wang, Dong Lv, Xin Li, Zhengbao Yang, Xi Yao · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-023-43574-8 · 被引用次数：48 · 研究领域：Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials、Conducting polymers and applications、Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies

Abstract The rapid-developing soft robots and wearable devices require flexible conductive materials to maintain electric functions over a large range of deformations. Considerable efforts are made to develop stretchable conductive materials; little attention is paid to the frequent failures of integrated circuits caused by the interface mismatch of soft substrates and rigid silicon-based microelectronics. Here, we present a stretchable solder with good weldability that can strongly bond with electronic components, benefiting from the hierarchical assemblies of liquid metal particles, small-molecule modulators, and non-covalently crosslinked polymer matrix. Our self-solder shows high conductivity (>2×10 5 S m −1 ), extreme stretchability (~1000%, and >600% with chip-integrated), and high toughness (~20 MJ m −3 ). Additionally, the dynamic interactions within our solder’s surface and interior enable a range of unique features, including ease of integration, component substitution, and circuit recyclability. With all these features, we demonstrated an application as thermoforming technology for three-dimensional (3D) conformable electronics, showing potential in reducing the complexity of microchip interfacing, as well as scalable fabrication of chip-integrated stretchable circuits and 3D electronics.