Highly Transparent, Stretchable, and Conducting Ionoelastomers Based on Poly(ionic liquid)s

Abstract

The rapid development of soft electronics has revitalized the research of conducting elastomers. However, the design of conducting elastomers having high stretchability and good transparency still remains a considerable challenge. In this study, we develop a highly transparent, stretchable, and conducting ionoelastomer based on a poly(ionic liquid) in which cations are fixed to a stretchable elastomeric network and counter anions are mobile. The ionoelastomer solves the dilemma of simultaneous transparency and stretchability in the design of traditional conducting elastomers, possessing good transparency (96%) with an extraordinarily high stretchability, up to a limiting strain of 1460%. Moreover, this novel material is completely nonvolatile and nonhygroscopic, endowing the ionoelastomer with highly stable thermal, environmental, electrochemical, and mechanoelectrical properties. An underwater sensor based on the ionoelastomer is developed with good performance in an aqueous environment. Also, a transparent dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) is demonstrated using the ionoelastomer. It is believed that the ionoelastomer would pave the way to develop exceptional conducting elastomers toward next-generation soft electronics.

Keywords: conducting elastomer; ionoelastomer; poly(ionic liquid); sensor and actuator; transparent and stretchable.