A durability study of carbon nanotube fiber based stretchable electronic devices under cyclic deformation

In spite of the recent rapid growth in stretchable electronic device research, efforts have been mainly focused on material selection, device geometric design and short-term performance characterization. The present research focuses on the long-term durability of electromechanical and electrochemical performance of buckled carbon nanotube fibers based stretchable conductors and supercapacitors under cyclic deformation. The damage mode and damage evolution as a function of fatigue deformation are identified. After 10,000 stretching-releasing cycles with mechanical deformation up to 40% strain, the conductivities of buckled dry spun and aerogel spun CNT fiber based stretchable conductors exhibit excellent stability and the resistances increase by only about 0.2% and 6%, respectively. The areal specific capacitances of buckled dry spun and aerogel spun CNT fiber based stretchable supercapacitors change, respectively, from 4.42 mF cm−2 to 3.60 mF cm−2, and from 8.16 mF cm−2 to 9.95 mF cm−2 at the scan rate of 50 mV s−1 after 10,000 deformation cycles.