Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.60, No.7, 2954-2961, 2021
Carbon Nanotubes-Coated Conductive Elastomer: Electrical and Near Infrared Light Dual-Stimulated Shape Memory, Self-Healing, and Wearable Sensing
Conductive elastomeric composites exhibit a great research potential in the intelligent materials and devices owing to their excellent mechanical and electrical properties. Herein, we reported a carbon nanotube (CNT)-coated conductive elastomer with electrical and near-infrared (NIR) light dual-stimulated shape memory and self-healing performance, which can also utilized in wearable sensing. The conductive elastomer composite, CNT-coated polymer substrate with shape memory and self-healing capacity (CNTs/CHSMPs), was first fabricated by graft copolymerization of tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate, lauryl acrylate (LA), and vinylimidazole on CNTs, subsequent supramolecular crosslinking, and CNT coating. Taking advantage of the remote controllability of NIR light and the rapid photothermal conversion by CNTs, the prepared composite can achieve accurate shape memory at a fixed point, and the shape recovery procedure can be completed within 30 s. The integrated conductive network throughout the polymer composite also endowed the material with unique electrical stimulated shape memory recovery performance, derived from the excellent electrothermal transition by CNTs. In addition, CNTs/CHSMPs also displayed self-healing characteristics for prolonging the service life of materials and strain sensitivity properties for the sensing of human motion, which contribute to their prodigious application potential in the field of wearable flexible electronic materials.