Material Design and Fabrication Strategies for Stretchable Metallic Nanocomposites

Stretchable conductive nanocomposites fabricated by integrating metallic nanomaterials with elastomers have become a vital component of human-friendly electronics, such as wearable and implantable devices, due to their unconventional electrical and mechanical characteristics. Understanding the detailed material design and fabrication strategies to improve the conductivity and stretchability of the nanocomposites is therefore important. This Review discusses the recent technological advances toward high performance stretchable metallic nanocomposites. First, the effect of the filler material design on the conductivity is briefly discussed, followed by various nanocomposite fabrication techniques to achieve high conductivity. Methods for maintaining the initial conductivity over a long period of time are also summarized. Then, strategies on controlled percolation of nanomaterials are highl…