Fabrication and properties of conductive micromoldable thermosetting polymer for electronic routing in highly flexible microfluidic systems

摘要

We present the preparation, characterization and electrical properties of a flexible electrically conducting nanocomposite polymer which has been prepared by shear mixing of 80nm - 500nm silver particles in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). We have characterized and compared the resistivity of films 3cm x 1 cm x 0.01cm in size as a function of weight percentage of silver nanoparticles (ranging from 10 to 50) with the result that the percolation threshold is achieved at 32.5 weight percent. The resistivity level achieved at 50 weight percentage is equal to 2.3 x 10~(-5)Ω-m which is better than bulk carbon. Microelectrodes were fabricated with a height of 30μm, width of 100μm, and lengths (1) ranging from 1 mm to 10mm with a maximum current of 40mA achieved for the 1mm electrode at 1V. The fabricated microelectrodes maintain electrical continuity on being bent, flexed or twisted and can be used for electronic routing on a flexible circuit board of non-conductive PDMS.