A Low-Hysteresis and Highly Stretchable Ionogel Enabled by Well Dispersed Slidable Cross-Linker for Rapid Human-Machine Interaction

Ionic conductive soft materials for mimicking human skin are a promising topic since they can be thought of as a possible basis for biomimetic sensing. In pursuit of devices with a long working range and low signal delay, conductive materials with low hysteresis and good stretchability are highly demanded. To overcome the challenges of highly stretchable conductive materials with good resilience, herein a chemical design is proposed where polyrotaxanes act as topological cross-linkers to enhance the stretchability by sliding-induced reduced stress concentration while the compatible ionic liquid is introduced as a dispersant for low hysteresis. The obtained ionogels exhibit versatile properties more than low hysteresis (residual strain = 7%) and good stretchability (550%), and also anti-fatigue, biocompatibility, and good adhesion. The low hysteresis is attributed to lower energy dissipation from the well-dispersed polyrotaxanes by compatible ionic liquids. The mechanism provides a new insight in fabricating highly stretchable and low-hysteresis slide-ring materials. Furthermore, the conductivity of the ionogels and their responses to strains and temperatures are measured. Benefiting from the good conductivity and low hysteresis, the ionogel is applied to develop a wireless communication system to realize rapid human-machine interactions.