Ag nanowire reinforced highly stretchable conductive fibers for wearable electronics

Stretchable conductive fibers have received significant attention due to their possibility of being utilized in wearable and foldable electronics. Here, highly stretchable conductive fiber composed of silver nanowires (AgNWs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) embedded in a styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) elastomeric matrix is fabricated. An AgNW-embedded SBS fiber is fabricated by a simple wet spinning method. Then, the AgNPs are formed on both the surface and inner region of the AgNW-embedded fiber via repeated cycles of silver precursor absorption and reduction processes. The AgNW-embedded conductive fiber exhibits superior initial electrical conductivity (σ₀ = 2450 S cm^-1) and elongation at break (900% strain) due to the high weight percentage of the conductive fillers and the use of a highly stretchable SBS elastomer matrix. During the stretching, the embedded AgNWs act as conducting bridges between AgNPs, resulting in the preservation of electrical conductivity under high strain (the rate of conductivity degradation, σ/σ₀ = 4.4% at 100% strain). The AgNW-embedded conductive fibers show the strain-sensing behavior with a broad range of applied tensile strain. The AgNW reinforced highly stretchable conductive fibers can be embedded into a smart glove for detecting sign language by integrating five composite fibers in the glove, which can successfully perceive human motions.