Highly Stretchable Conducting SIBS-P3HT Fibers

Poly(styrene- β -isobutylene- β -styrene)-poly(3-hexylthiophene) (SIBS-P3HT) conducting composite fi bers are successfully produced using a continuous fl ow approach. Composite fi bers are stiffer than SIBS fi bers and able to withstand strains of up 975% before breaking. These composite fi bers exhibit interesting reversible mechanical and electrical characteristics, which are applied to demonstrate their strain gauging capabilities. This will facilitate their potential applications in strain sensing or elastic electrodes. Here, the fabrication and characterization of highly stretchable electrically conducting SIBS-P3HT fi bers using a solvent/non-solvent wet-spinning technique is reported. This fabrication method combines the processability of conducting SIBS-P3HT blends with wet-spinning, resulting in fi bers that could be easily spun up to several meters long. The resulting composite fi ber materials exhibit an increased stiffness (higher Young’s modulus) but lower ductility compared to SIBS fi bers. The fi bers’ reversible mechanical and electrical characteristics are applied to demonstrate their strain gauging capabilities.