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Engineered Elastomer Substrates for Guided Assembly of Complex 3D Mesostructures by Spatially Nonuniform Compressive Buckling
Author(s) -
Nan Kewang,
Luan Haiwen,
Yan Zheng,
Ning Xin,
Wang Yiqi,
Wang Ao,
Wang Juntong,
Han Mengdi,
Chang Matthew,
Li Kan,
Zhang Yutong,
Huang Wen,
Xue Yeguang,
Huang Yonggang,
Zhang Yihui,
Rogers John A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201604281
Subject(s) - materials science , elastomer , stretchable electronics , buckling , planar , substrate (aquarium) , compression (physics) , semiconductor , nanotechnology , electronics , composite material , optoelectronics , computer science , chemistry , computer graphics (images) , oceanography , geology
Approaches capable of creating 3D mesostructures in advanced materials (device‐grade semiconductors, electroactive polymers, etc.) are of increasing interest in modern materials research. A versatile set of approaches exploits transformation of planar precursors into 3D architectures through the action of compressive forces associated with release of prestrain in a supporting elastomer substrate. Although a diverse set of 3D structures can be realized in nearly any class of material in this way, all previously reported demonstrations lack the ability to vary the degree of compression imparted to different regions of the 2D precursor, thus constraining the diversity of 3D geometries. This paper presents a set of ideas in materials and mechanics in which elastomeric substrates with engineered distributions of thickness yield desired strain distributions for targeted control over resultant 3D mesostructures geometries. This approach is compatible with a broad range of advanced functional materials from device‐grade semiconductors to commercially available thin films, over length scales from tens of micrometers to several millimeters. A wide range of 3D structures can be produced in this way, some of which have direct relevance to applications in tunable optics and stretchable electronics.