Schaumüller Stephan, Halama Stefan, Prka Peter, Teasdale Ian, Graz Ingrid
Institute of Polymer Chemistry, Johannes Kepler University Linz, 4040 Linz, Austria.
Christian Doppler Laboratory for Soft Structures for Vibration Isolation and Impact Protection (ADAPT), School of Education, STEM Education, Johannes Kepler University Linz, 4040 Linz, Austria.
ACS Mater Au. 2024 Nov 18;5(1):141-148. doi: 10.1021/acsmaterialsau.4c00042. eCollection 2025 Jan 8.
Soft materials play a pivotal role in the efficacy of stretchable electronics and soft robotics, and the interface between the soft devices and rigid counterparts is especially crucial to the overall performance. Herein, we develop polyimide-polydimethylsiloxane (PI-PDMS) copolymers that, in various ratios, combine on a molecular level to give a series of chemically similar materials with an extremely wide Young's modulus range starting from soft 2 MPa and transitioning to rigid polymers with up to 1500 MPa. Of particular significance is the copolymers' capacity to prepare seamless stiffness gradients, as evidenced by strain distribution analyses of gradient materials, due to them being unified on a molecular level. The copolymers and gradient materials were successfully used as substrates for stretchable thin-film conductors and tested as dielectric elastomer actuators, demonstrating their potential application as enabling components in stretchable electronics and soft robots.
软材料在可拉伸电子器件和软体机器人的效能中起着关键作用，软设备与刚性部件之间的界面对于整体性能尤为重要。在此，我们开发了聚酰亚胺 - 聚二甲基硅氧烷（PI - PDMS）共聚物，它们以各种比例在分子水平上结合，得到一系列化学性质相似的材料，其杨氏模量范围极宽，从柔软的2兆帕开始，过渡到高达1500兆帕的刚性聚合物。特别重要的是，共聚物具有制备无缝刚度梯度的能力，这通过梯度材料的应变分布分析得到证明，因为它们在分子水平上是统一的。这些共聚物和梯度材料成功用作可拉伸薄膜导体的基底，并作为介电弹性体致动器进行了测试，证明了它们作为可拉伸电子器件和软体机器人中的 enabling 组件的潜在应用。 （注：这里“enabling”在专业语境下可能有特定含义，可根据具体领域进一步准确翻译，此处暂保留英文未译）
