Rubbery Electronics Fully Made of Stretchable Elastomeric Electronic Materials

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2020-04, Vol.32 (15), p.e1902417-n/a
• Main Authors: Sim, Kyoseung, Rao, Zhoulyu, Ershad, Faheem, Yu, Cunjiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Conductors; elastomeric electronic materials; Elastomers; Electronic devices; Electronic materials; Electronics; Optoelectronic devices; rubbery conductors; rubbery electronics; rubbery semiconductors; Semiconductors; Strain; stretchable electronics; Transistors
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201902417

Stretchable electronics outperform existing rigid and bulky electronics and benefit a wide range of species, including humans, machines, and robots, whose activities are associated with large mechanical deformation and strain. Due to the nonstretchable nature of most electronic materials, in particular semiconductors, stretchable electronics are mostly realized through the strategies of architectural engineering to accommodate mechanical stretching rather than imposing strain into the materials directly. On the other hand, recent development of stretchable electronics by creating them entirely from stretchable elastomeric electronic materials, i.e., rubbery electronics, suggests a feasible a venue. Rubbery electronics have gained increasing interest due to the unique advantages that they and their associated manufacturing technologies have offered. This work reviews the recent progress in developing rubbery electronics, including the crucial stretchable elastomeric materials of rubbery conductors, rubbery semiconductors, and rubbery dielectrics. Thereafter, various rubbery electronics such as rubbery transistors, integrated electronics, rubbery optoelectronic devices, and rubbery sensors are discussed. Compared to conventional rigid and bulky electronics, stretchable electronics have substantial advantages for various situations where large mechanical deformations are required. Recent progress shows stretchable electronics from all rubber‐like components are excellent candidates to substitute electronics developed using architectural engineering for eliminating strain. The current development in rubbery electronics is reviewed and future directions for the field are suggested.