Regulation of Mechanical Properties of Conductive Polymer Composites

Abstract

Conductive polymer composites (CPCs) are widely used in the field of organic electronics as the material basis of high-performance devices, due to their obvious advantages including electrical conductivity, lightness, processability and so on. Research on CPCs has focused on the enhancement of their electrical features and the exploration of their application prospects from conventional fields to heated emerging areas like flexible, stretchable, wearable, biological and biomedical electronics, where their mechanical properties are quite critical to determine their practical device performances. Also, a main challenge to ensure their safety and reliability is on the synergistic enhancement of their electrical behavior and mechanical properties. Herein, we systematically reviews the research progress of CPCs with different conductive fillers (metals and their oxides, carbon-based materials, intrinsically conductive polymers, MXenes, etc.) relying on rich material forms (hydrogel, aerogel, fiber, film, elastomer, etc.) in terms of mechanical property regulation strategies, mainly relying on optimized composite material systems and processing techniques. A summary and prospective overview of current issues and future developments in this field also has been presented.