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High-frequency and intrinsically stretchable polymer diodes

Nature volume 600, pages 246–252 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Skin-like intrinsically stretchable soft electronic devices are essential to realize next-generation remote and preventative medicine for advanced personal healthcare1,2,3,4. The recent development of intrinsically stretchable conductors and semiconductors has enabled highly mechanically robust and skin-conformable electronic circuits or optoelectronic devices2,5,6,7,8,9,10. However, their operating frequencies have been limited to less than 100 hertz, which is much lower than that required for many applications. Here we report intrinsically stretchable diodes—based on stretchable organic and nanomaterials—capable of operating at a frequency as high as 13.56 megahertz. This operating frequency is high enough for the wireless operation of soft sensors and electrochromic display pixels using radiofrequency identification in which the base-carrier frequency is 6.78 megahertz or 13.56 megahertz. This was achieved through a combination of rational material design and device engineering. Specifically, we developed a stretchable anode, cathode, semiconductor and current collector that can satisfy the strict requirements for high-frequency operation. Finally, we show the operational feasibility of our diode by integrating it with a stretchable sensor, electrochromic display pixel and antenna to realize a stretchable wireless tag. This work is an important step towards enabling enhanced functionalities and capabilities for skin-like wearable electronics.

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Fig. 1: A high-frequency stretchable diode.
Fig. 2: Characterization of stretchable current collectors based on AgNWs.
Fig. 3: High-frequency operation of the stretchable diodes.
Fig. 4: A wireless stretchable sensor and display system.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by SAIT, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) under its Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) Programmatic Scheme (no. A18A1b0045). N.M. was partially supported by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) overseas research fellowship. Part of this work was performed at the Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF), supported by the National Science Foundation under award ECCS-1542152. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements were carried out at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL), a national user facility operated by Stanford University on behalf of the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Experiments performed during revision were carried out in Keio University and was supported by JST, PRESTO Grant Number JPMJPR20B7, Japan.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Naoji Matsuhisa, Simiao Niu

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Naoji Matsuhisa, Simiao Niu, Stephen J. K. O’Neill, Jiheong Kang, Yuto Ochiai, Toru Katsumata, Hung-Chin Wu, Minoru Ashizawa, Ging-Ji Nathan Wang, Donglai Zhong, Xuelin Wang, Xiwen Gong, Huaxin Gong, Insang You, Yu Zheng, Zhitao Zhang, Jeffrey B.-H. Tok & Zhenan Bao

  2. Innovative Center for Flexible Devices (iFLEX), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Naoji Matsuhisa & Xiaodong Chen

  3. Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan

    Naoji Matsuhisa

  4. Japan Science and Technology Agency, PRESTO, Kawaguchi, Japan

    Naoji Matsuhisa

  5. Corporate Research and Development, Performance Materials Technology Center, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Fuji, Japan

    Toru Katsumata

  6. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Minoru Ashizawa

  7. School of Medical Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China

    Xuelin Wang

  8. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Rui Ning

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Contributions

N.M., S.N., X.C. and Z.B. designed the project and experiments. S.N. and D.Z. performed the simulation of a diode, circuit and wireless communication. T.K. designed DPP4T-oSi10. Y.O., T.K., M.A., G.-J.N.W. and Y.Z. synthesized DPP4T-oSi10. N.M., Y.O., T.K. and H.-C.W. characterized DPP4T-oSi10. J.K. synthesized ION E. N.M., S.J.K.O., H.-C.W. and R.N. developed stretchable PEDOT:PSS. H.G. performed XPS. N.M., S.J.K.O., R.N., I.Y. and Z.Z. developed stretchable AgNWs. N.M., S.J.K.O., R.N. and X.G. developed the fabrication process of stretchable diodes. N.M. and X.W. fabricated O-GaIn. N.M., S.N. and X.C. developed CNT strain sensors. N.M. and S.J.K.O. developed stretchable ECDs. S.N. developed the flexible power-supply circuit. N.M., S.N., J.B.-H.T. and Z.B. wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhenan Bao.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

This file contains Supplementary Figs. 1–50, Tables 1–60 and Notes I–XIV.

Supplementary Data

This file contains the source data of the plots in the Supplementary Information.

Supplementary Video 1

Operation of the stretchable ECD under 0% strain. The ECD showed a fast response up to 10 Hz.

Supplementary Video 2

Operation of the stretchable ECD under 20% strain. The ECD showed a fast response up to 10 Hz.

Supplementary Video 3

Operation of the stretchable ECD under 50% strain. The ECD showed a fast response up to 10 Hz.

Supplementary Video 4

Wireless operation of the stretchable sensor and display system. Strain larger than 20% increased the resistance of the integrated strain sensor, and a clear colour change of the ECD was observed.

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Matsuhisa, N., Niu, S., O’Neill, S.J.K. et al. High-frequency and intrinsically stretchable polymer diodes. Nature 600, 246–252 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04053-6

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