University Research
Sustainable Thermoplastic Elastomers-Based Nanocomposites and Their 3D Printing for Flexible and Stretchable Sensors
Academic department
School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering
Description
Stretchable and wearable electronics and devices have brought unprecedented opportunities for many applications including robotics, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence. The fundamental materials that enable such applications generally involve soft conductors that combine conductive nanofillers with soft matrices. However, most current soft conductors rely on conventional soft elastomers such as silicone rubber and polyurethane, which are produced from petrochemicals with limited sustainability. In this study, we developed a series of soft nanocomposites based on the integration of sustainable biobased thermoplastic elastomer polystyrene-b-polyfarnesene-b-polystyrene (SFS) with carbon nanofillers of different dimensions (2D graphene, 1D carbon nanotubes, or 0D carbon black). Importantly, SFS and its nanocomposites are fully compatible with extrusion-based 3D printing. We demonstrated pellet 3D-printing of SFS nanocomposites into functional and customizable 3D structures. The mechanical and electrical properties and dynamic responses to mechanical deformation of SFS nanocomposites were systematically investigated for their promising applications in wearable sensors and environment monitoring. We found that the type/geometry of carbon nanofillers, the ratio between different types of nanofillers, and processing conditions (3D printing vs. casting) have significant effects on the electrical properties and strain sensor performance. Such 3D printable soft and sustainable nanocomposites provide a new material platform for applications in soft electronics/robotics and human–machine interfaces.
Publisher name
Royal Society of Chemists
Document Type
Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Link
https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04676A
Publication Date
7-28-2025
Publication Title
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Issue
38
First Page
32134
Last Page
32148
Recommended Citation
Xu, Weinan; Liu, Xun; Shen, Naifu; and Bu, Jinyu, "Sustainable Thermoplastic Elastomers-Based Nanocomposites and Their 3D Printing for Flexible and Stretchable Sensors" (2025). University Research. 25.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/university_research/25
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License