Directly photo-patternable, stretchable, electrically conductive polymer

A film comprising:

• an electrically conductive polymer;
• and
• a cross-linked network intermixed with the electrically conductive polymer,
• wherein the film has:
• an electrical conductivity of at least about 100 S/cm;
• a maximum tensile strain of at least about 10%;
• a light transmittance at a wavelength of 550 nm of at least about 30%;
• an impedance of 100 ohms for an electrical signal of a frequency between 10 Hz and 10 KHz,
• and a current density of up to 15 μA/cm2;
• and a charge storage capacity of 1.2 mC/cm2.

A method of manufacturing a device comprising:

• forming a sacrificial layer of dextran or polyvinyl alcohol on a substrate by spin coating;
• forming a carrier layer of polyurethane acrylate (PUA, Dymax) on the sacrificial layer by spin coating;
• forming a substrate layer of polyurethane (PU, BASF) on the carrier layer by spin coating;
• forming an electrode layer of PEDOT/PEGDA (Agfa Orgacon ICP 1050/Sigma-Aldrich) on the substrate layer by spin coating,
• exposing the PEDOT layer to UV,
• developing the PEDOT layer in water to make the electrode arrays and interconnects;
• performing a methanol treatment to boost the conductivity of PEDOT;
• forming an encapsulation layer of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS, Asahi Kasei) exposing the SEBS layer to UV,
• developing the SEBS layer in dodecane to passivate the interconnects;
• forming a plurality of silver nanowires (Ag NW) at a corresponding plurality I/O pads by spray coating,
• bonding the PEDOT and a flat flex cable (FFC) using anisotropic conductive adhesives (ACA, 3M), and
• releasing the device using water to dissolve a layer of dextran.