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Advances in design and manufacture of stretchable electronics

Gillan, Liam; Hiltunen, Jussi; Behfar, Mohammad H.; Rönkä, Kari

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Japanese Journal of Applied Physics

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10.35848/1347-4065/ac586f

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Gillan, L., Hiltunen, J., Behfar, M. H., & Rönkä, K. (2022). Advances in design and manufacture of stretchable
electronics. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 61(SE), Article SE0804. https://doi.org/10.35848/1347-
4065/ac586f

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Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 61, SE0804 (2022) PROGRESS REVIEW
https://doi.org/10.35848/1347-4065/ac586f

Advances in design and manufacture of stretchable electronics

Liam Gillan1* , Jussi Hiltunen2 , Mohammad H. Behfar1 , and Kari Rönkä2
1
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. Tietotie 3, Espoo 02150, Finland
2
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. Kaitoväylä 1, Oulu 90570, Finland
*
E-mail: [email protected]
Received November 17, 2021; revised February 8, 2022; accepted February 24, 2022; published online April 19, 2022

Flexible and stretchable electronics present opportunities for transition from rigid bulky devices to soft and conformal systems. However, such
technology requires mechanical design and integration strategies to enhance robustness and form factor. In addition, scalable and reliable
fabrication pathways are needed to facilitate the high volume manufacturing required to satisfy a growing market demand. This report describes
recent advances in design, manufacture, and reliability of flexible and stretchable electronics technology. Flexible concept devices for physiological
monitoring are introduced, before discussion of high throughput fabrication of stretchable electronics, then hybrid integration of conventional rigid
components on stretchable carrier substrates with an emphasis on a need for further developments in device reliability testing procedures. Finally,
consideration is given to transition options for more eco-conscious device constituents. These cases progress flexible and stretchable electronics
towards robust, fully integrated, unobtrusive devices incorporating sustainable components. © 2022 The Author(s). Published on behalf of The
Japan Society of Applied Physics by IOP Publishing Ltd

traditional 3D textile forms11) has facilitated the emergence

1. Introduction of electronic textiles.12–15) For instance, coating of cotton
Flexible and stretchable electronics are devices incorporating yarn with polypyrrole to form spring like strain structures for
conductive tracks, circuitry or other electronic components strain sensing,16) or coating stretchable nylon/spandex fabric
integrated with material(s) capable of mechanical deforma- with poly(3,4,-ethylenedioxythiophene and polystyrene sul-
tions as a result of possessing a low Young’s modulus.1) fonate acid (PEDOT:PSS) to generate a temperature insensi-
Benefits of flexible and stretchable electronics systems in tive wearable supercapacitor.17) Other strategies include the
place of bulky rigid devices are evident in use cases subject production of composite materials, such as electrically
to motion and dynamic changing structural form. For conductive structures embedded in a stretchable
instance wearable electronics, which can provide convenient matrix,18,19) or incorporation of conductive liquid metal
human-machine interfaced2) platforms for monitoring phy- alloys.20–23) Rather than further detailing examples of work
siological parameters during sports or in clinical settings.3,4) reporting textiles, composites, or liquid metals, the scope of
In addition to wearables which are the primary focus of this this paper is focused on high throughput fabrication, which
paper, stretchable electronics find vast applications including typically relies on additive processing such as printing of
displays, energy harvesting and storage devices, and soft conductive structures, or pick-and-place integration of active
robotics, as detailed in recent review articles.5–7) components onto a carrier substrate film.
Significant challenges in mechanical design arise when A variety of synthetic polymer materials have been
attempting to develop strain tolerant electronic devices that explored for their applicability as substrate materials in
can be mounted in a conformal manner on non-uniform or conformal wearable devices. Due to a requirement for multi
moving surfaces while retaining electronic functionality. For axis mechanical deformations in response to skin move-
instance, a key challenge is robust integration of rigid or ments, an important physical property of materials intended
printed components on flexible or stretchable carrier sub- for skin conformability is the Young’s modulus of elasticity
strates. Particularly where scalable fabrication approaches are (E), where a smaller E value indicates a greater degree of
required to manufacture sufficient volumes of devices with flexibility or stretchability. One approach for experimental
high uniformity for research and development testing and to determination of E is by means of a contact apparatus, which
satisfy increasing consumer demand.8) measures displacement resulting from compressive force
In this report, we describe recently demonstrated cases applied to a sample using a spherical probe. This indentation
progressing from flexible to stretchable electronics, with an method enables the measurement of small compressive
emphasis on reliability and high throughput fabrication displacement and force at mesoscale, yielding data that might
methods such as rotary screen-printing and pick-and-place not be possible to obtain using nanoscale or macroscale
hybrid integration. Finally, we envision a shift towards an eco- equipment.24) Given the condition of Poisson’s ratio = 0.5,
conscious approach by integration of sustainable materials. this approach enables calculation of E according to
2. Discussion E = 9W 16 R1 2 (RD)3 2 , (1 )
2.1. Polymer carrier substrates for wearable where W is the load applied to the sample by a spherical
electronics probe with radius R, and RD is the measured relative
In recent years, a number of strategies have evolved in the displacement.24) Table I presents a number of materials that
development of wearable electronics. Integration of func- have been exploited as carriers for wearable electronics,
tional 1D structures9) including elastomeric fibers10) into listed in their respective order of decreasing values of E, from

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Any further distribution of this
work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
© 2022 The Author(s). Published on behalf of
SE0804-1 The Japan Society of Applied Physics by IOP Publishing Ltd
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 61, SE0804 (2022) PROGRESS REVIEW

Table I. Polymeric substrates commonly used for wearable electronics, of glucose in diabetes diagnostics,40) or ions and sweat rate
listed in order of decreasing Young’s modulus for comparison with skin in for exercise physiology.41)
the bottom row.
Single use electrochemical sensor patches can couple with
Material Young’s modulus References miniaturized, wireless and flexible electronic readout devices.
Polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) 4 GPa 26
This enables a conformal and low profile hybrid electronics
Polyethylene terephthalate 2.5 GPa 27 wearable platform composed of (i) a single use skin patch
(PET) part fabricated by high volume R2R printing and laser
Polyimide (PI) 2.3 GPa 28 patterning processes, and (ii) a reusable readout electronics
Thermoplastic polyurethane 3.6–88.8 MPa 29 part assembled on flexible polyimide (PI). Figure 1 presents
(TPU)
an example of such a platform, which was demonstrated for
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) 0.5–3 MPa 6,30, 31
Ecoflex silicone 50–100 kPa 6, 32 monitoring of lactate in exercise-induced sweat by chron-
Human skin Epidermis 140–600 kPa, 33 oamperometry, with data acquisition via Bluetooth low
dermis 2–80 kPa energy to a custom mobile phone application simultaneously
from devices worn in four different body locations.42)
Another example of such a hybrid electronics wearable
flexible polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) to stretchable sili- system was reported for monitoring wound healing by
cone. Poisson’s ratio (ν) is another useful metric for bioimpedance.44) This device connects a flexible wireless
quantifying the intrinsic mechanical properties of a material. electronic readout system on PI substrate to a 16-channel
This is an approximation of the ratio of change in axial strain electrode array, where the silver electrodes are deposited by
(dεaxial) to the change in transverse strain (dεtrans) under scalable screen-printing process onto a stretchable, breathable
uniaxial extension25) as described by and biocompatible nanocellulose/polyurethane composite
detrans substrate45) for measuring increasing impedance in response
n=- , (2 ) to the healing process of a skin wound.
deaxial
The above-mentioned lactate and bioimpedance moni-
Recently, a method of laser engraving a grid pattern was toring platforms benefit from readout electronics fabricated
demonstrated for ascertaining changes in axial and transverse on industrial standard flexible PI foundations. However,
strain, facilitating the experimental determination of a high despite somewhat conforming to the skin of the wearer,
accuracy Poisson’s ratio for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) there is a mismatch between mechanical properties of the
of 0.49989 ± 0.00111.25) Methods such as this approach are device and the skin, such as the Young’s modulus
likely to provide accurate experimentally verified Poisson’s (epidermis = 140–600 kPa,33) PI = 2.3 GPa28)). This means
ratio values for countless other stretchable materials, in-
cluding those presented in Table I, yielding information on (a)
physical properties to assist selection of suitable materials for
stretchable electronics design.
2.2. Scalable fabrication of hybrid platforms for
physiological monitoring
Electrochemical sensors are useful for rapid analysis of
biomarkers.34) These kind of sensors can be miniaturized,
adapted for improved flexibility and stretchability,35) and
integrated into wearables towards personalized healthcare.36)
For example, formed into wearable patches and exploited for
sweat analytics.37) High throughput and low unit cost
fabrication methods are required for single-use electroche-
mical sensor patches to be used in large population studies or
commercialized into products. In response to this need, roll-
to-roll (R2R) gravure printing was reported for fabrication of
electrochemical sensors demonstrated with real time sweat
pH measurements.38) R2R screen-printing is another ap- (b)
proach for generating large volumes of printed electronics
with high yield on flexible or stretchable substrates.39) The
relative low cost of screens in comparison with gravure plates
(or cylinders in the case of R2R process) means that screen-
printing can be more cost effective than gravure if there is
desire to regularly change print designs, or print many
different layout patterns. Furthermore, screen-printing pro-
vides thicker layers than is feasible using gravure printing,
which is important for generating sufficient conductivity.
Electrode structures R2R-printed on flexible polyethylene Fig. 1. (Color online) Flexible and miniature wearable devices for
physiological monitoring. (a) A wearable system for monitoring lactate in
terephthalate (PET) can be combined with laser-patterned exercise induced sweat.42) (b) An activity tracker patch with 3-axis
medical adhesive tapes which define fluidic channels, to form accelerometer and shake-to-wake functionality. Images courtesy of VTT
conformal wearable skin patches for electrochemical analysis Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.43)
© 2022 The Author(s). Published on behalf of
SE0804-2 The Japan Society of Applied Physics by IOP Publishing Ltd
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 61, SE0804 (2022) PROGRESS REVIEW

that the devices do not stretch in the same manner as skin simulation methods have arisen to study formation of fatigue
does, so can restrict movement. In addition, PI and PET cracks in 2D interconnect features caused by buckling,
components do not allow the skin to breathe, which can lead assisting the optimization of geometric design for maxi-
to accumulation of sweat beneath the device, or skin mizing mechanical durability of interconnect features.55)
irritation. Wear comfort of the device could be improved In addition to the geometry of printed features, the
by incorporating porous or moisture wicking components, formulation of printed materials may be controlled in order
and by condensing the electronics design to reduce the device to minimize the breakdown of printed features resulting from
footprint and total size of the electronics system. An example mechanical deformations. For example, it is known that the
of condensed electronics design is an activity-tracking device addition of silver nanowires to silver nanoparticle ink can
shown in Fig. 1, which despite relying on a rigid circuit board enable the subsequent structures to tolerate a greater degree
for the active electronics, measures only 12 × 23 mm2 of tensile bending, by forming electrically conductive brid-
including a stretchable medical adhesive, and features a 3- ging pathways across cracks formed between silver nano-
axis acceleration sensor with “shake to wake” function to particles due to mechanical stress.56) However, high aspect
trigger data streaming by Bluetooth Low Energy to a custom ratio materials can be larger than spherical nanoparticle ink
mobile phone app.43) components, posing practical challenges for printing tech-
Wearable electronics platforms for physiological moni- nology, for instance by clogging of inkjet nozzles.57) This
toring can benefit from an improved form factor by integra- motivates the development of stretchable materials by
tion of stretchable materials to better replicate the mechanical engineering their materials, structure, or a combination of
properties of the skin such as low Young’s modulus, towards these as detailed in a recent review article.58)
truly epidermal electronics.33) To this end, the following New methods for improving mechanical durability of
section describes demonstrated examples of scalable electro- printed interconnects are evolving. For example, a recent
nics fabrication methods on stretchable substrate materials. report59) describes how fused filament fabrication can be used
2.3. Considerations for high-throughput fabrication of to generate structures which support screen-printed conduc-
stretchable electronics tive features by directing mechanical stress away from the
Mechanical properties such as the stretchability and dur- interconnects’ weak regions, improving the average max-
ability of electronic devices are not only determined by the imum elongation of the interconnects by 27%.
carrier substrate onto which devices are fabricated, but they TPU is a material with appealing mechanical properties (e.
are also influenced by the attached electrical components and g. E = 3.6–88.8 MPa29)) as a substrate for stretchable elec-
interconnects. Printed silver features formed by nanoparticle tronics. Via holes through stretchable substrates facilitates
inks can possess electrical conductivity 56% or less of the design and fabrication of double-sided printed circuits,
value for bulk silver metal.46) This can be explained by the enabling printing of more complex layouts with efficient
particulate nature of the material, which results in some use of materials. A full R2R process was recently developed
degree of boundary effects between discrete particles, hin- for fabrication of electrically conductive silver serpentine
dering free electron flow. when printed features such as tracks printed on TPU with through-substrate via
screen-printed nanoparticle silver interconnects are subjected interconnects.60) This process investigated the performance
to mechanical stress, fractures can form in the material which of via holes formed by either R2R laser or die cutting TPU, in
cause increased electrical resistance (R) by reducing the cross combination with R2R rotary screen-printing for patterning
sectional area available for charge carrier pathways described conductive silver tracks on both sides of TPU substrate and
by47) for filling of via holes with silver paste. The developed
l process was exploited for demonstrating electrocardiography
R= å r si , (3 ) (ECG) electrode structures depicted in Fig. 2 and could find
i
further applications such as energy harvesting and storage.61)
where ρ is the material resistivity, li is the length of material PDMS is a highly stretchable (E ⩽ 3 MPa6,30,31)) elasto-
for charge carrier transport, and si is the cross sectional area meric material that is widely used in research and develop-
of the material. ment of microfluidic devices and these have recently been
One strategy for minimizing fracture of printed intercon- demonstrated to be fabricated by high volume R2R process.63)
nects is by geometric design of print pattern layout. In Printing of conductive interconnect features on PDMS is
contrast to a 1D line, 2D printed structures such as triangular, challenging due to the low PDMS surface energy of 20–30 mJ
square, or sine waves, serpentine arcs, horseshoe patterns, or m−2 causing poor adhesion of deposited materials.64) Ozone
spirals provide geometric length greater than the physical size treatment is a useful approach for altering the surface energy
of the printed pattern.48,49) This enables physical changes of PDMS. Ozone treatment was applied to change the contact
such as twisting, extension, or rotation as they release their angle of water from 96.7° to 7.5° in regions defined by a
geometric length in response to increased physical shadow mask, enabling the patterning of a masking liquid that
elongation.50,51) Based on this concept, elaborate fractal was employed as a print stamp for patterning of thermally
inspired constructs including lines, loops, and branch like evaporated metal.65) However, this process restricts high
geometries have been considered, of which Peano curves52) throughput manufacture because the ozone treatment step
show great promise for exploitation in future requires an extensive duration followed by a subsequent
developments.53) During either the fabrication process, or reduced pressure evaporation that further extends the proce-
application of the device, in-surface or out of plane global in dure time. Recently, PDMS has been demonstrated as a
local buckling can impart physical damage to printed substrate for high throughput R2R rotary screen-printing of
features.54) In response to this, finite element analysis silver interconnects, as depicted in Fig. 2.62) This process was
© 2022 The Author(s). Published on behalf of
SE0804-3 The Japan Society of Applied Physics by IOP Publishing Ltd
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 61, SE0804 (2022) PROGRESS REVIEW

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. (Color online) (a) Silver ECG electrode structures featuring double sided R2R printing on TPU linked through the substrate with R2R cut vias (2 mm
hole diameter) and R2R filled via holes (reproduced from Ref. 60 under terms of the CC-BY license). (b) Stretched PDMS film with R2R-printed silver
structures of varying geometry (reproduced from Ref. 62 under terms of the CC-BY license).

assisted by use of a non-stretchable PET carrier film to conductive adhesive without any rigid or flexible interposer.68)
support the stretchable PDMS and careful control of the However, mechanical mismatch at the interface of soft and
printing contact nip pressure to minimize deformations to the stiffened regions led to formation of cracks in the printed
PDMS caused by contact with the screen during printing. The conductive features. This highlights the importance of reliability
electrical conductivity of the printed features tolerated more testing for flexible and stretchable electronic devices, which is
than 100 cycles of repeated 20% strain. This strain durability discussed in the following section.
was improved by a factor of two when the printed structures 2.5. Reliability
were mechanically supported by encapsulation with PDMS Applications related to physiological monitoring in health-
overlayer produced by R2R process. care demand the utmost dependability from electronic
2.4. Hybrid integration devices, because it can literally be a matter of life or death.
R2R printed electronics such as those described in the Reliability is a crucial aspect of all electronic devices, not
previous section can be integrated with high-performance, only those applied in the healthcare sector, particularly where
mostly silicon-based microelectronics and other conventional high volume manufacturing is performed and where devices
rigid components to enable greater device performance than are subjected to mechanical deformations such as stretching,
is currently possible using purely R2R printed components bending, or torsion. Reliability is of particular concern in
alone. These hybrid devices can be fabricated at high volume flexible and especially stretchable electronics, where relia-
by pick and place assembly equipment in stop-and-go bility design and testing must be done in new ways compared
processing by R2R, sheet-to-sheet (S2S), or combining to the industrial standard rigid FR4, or flexible PI substrates
R2R and S2S methods. with soldering process. Use of stretchable substrate and
This approach was used to realize a personal activity conductive adhesives causes different failure modes that
meter66) composed of R2R-printed backplane and co-planar require new types of testing methods and models for
electrochromic display, with pick and place assembled estimation of device lifetime.
accelerometer, microcontroller and passive components. Conductive features printed on flexible or stretchable
The resulting structure was then supported by an injection- substrates are an important case for reliability studies. In
molded structure. Scalability of the fabrication process was these cases, failure commonly occurs due to slipping,
demonstrated by manufacturing 100 complete units of the delamination, or cracking caused by mismatch in the
activity meter device. mechanical properties of the substrate and printed
Hybrid device architecture is particularly advantageous when material.69) Robustness of devices possessing such features
integrating conventional components with a stretchable sub- is particularly challenged when materials are deposited on
strate. This was recently demonstrated in a stretchable circuit both sides of the substrate and connected with through
board formed from copper interconnects which tolerated substrate vias. Recently, such an architecture was challenged
soldering and was demonstrated as a wearable pressure by bending reliability studies performed on laser cut and
monitor.67) The resistance of the produced copper circuit wires screen-print filled vias through 125 μm thick PET foil
only increased by around 20.6% under applied tensile strain of substrate.70) The study revealed that a more viscous silver
80%. Unfortunately, the multi-step photolithography process nanoparticle ink effectively fills the vias with 100% yield.
poses limitations for high throughput manufacture. Another Furthermore, 10 mm radius bending tests providing no
recent example of a hybrid device is the wireless elastic ECG evidence of via specific breakdown after as many as 30 000
system shown in Fig. 3, which is formed by scalable S2S screen cycles. However, increased electrical resistance was observed
printing of electrically conductive features on TPU, followed by during bending tests, which could be explained by the
component assembly via thermo compression using anisotropic formation of fractures between nanoparticles as described by

© 2022 The Author(s). Published on behalf of

SE0804-4 The Japan Society of Applied Physics by IOP Publishing Ltd
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 61, SE0804 (2022) PROGRESS REVIEW

(a) (b)

Fig. 3. (Color online) Hybrid integrated electronics realized in an ECG system on elastic TPU substrate68) (a) being removed from carrier PET foil backing,
(b) mounting on forearm reveals how well the device conforms to the body. Images courtesy of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.

Eq. (3) above. The vias were demonstrated as components of To enable integration with wearable devices such as
a flexible multilayer energy module with supercapacitor textiles or other clothing, printed conductive structures
energy storage and organic solar cell energy harvesting must tolerate cleaning procedures applied to the carrier
functionality. materials, for instance washing. To investigate this, a study
In another performance test of vias through TPU substrate, was performed by attaching R2R-printed electrodes printed
100 cycles of stretching by 20% was performed.60) It was on TPU to stretchable fabric waist belts and then subjecting
observed that interconnections with a via hole diameter 1 or them to cleaning cycles with washing powder in a household
2 mm tolerated the stretching tests, whereas those with 3 and style washing machine.72) This process was understandably
10 mm suffered reduced electrical conductivity across the destructive to the printed structures, particularly those with
interconnect. This could plausibly result from fractures formed smaller printed features. The washing process resulted in
in the large inflexible regions of nanoparticle material. The increased surface roughness and cracking within the bulk of
study confirmed that only the via sidewalls required ink the printed material, along with apparent decrease in silver
coverage to enable proper interconnection between conductive and increase in carbon content. A key finding from the testing
features on both sides of the substrate. The developed R2R was that greatest reliability was provided by electrodes
fabrication process delivered 100% yield of working vias. formed from precursor inks with particle size smaller than
Investigating the reliability of electronic devices under around eight μm. The authors postulate that larger particles
bending or stretching deformations is important. However, are more prone to flaking off the sample, and/or forming
conformal and epidermal electronics attached to skin are also larger voids as they are removed by the washing process.
subjected to stress induced by twisting. This was considered Furthermore, the printed silver tracks were made more robust
in a study on the impact of torsional bending on PET by coverage with a R2R-printed protective carbon
supporting R2R screen-printed silver tracks.71) Samples overlayer.73)
were twisted by 180° both clockwise and counterclockwise, Computer modeling is a useful tool for assessing reliability
while measuring four-point resistance and investigating heat of electronic devices and can even be applied to tune
patterns with thermography. The tests revealed that length to manufacturing processes. For example, in the above-men-
width ratio of the substrate drastically influenced the sample tioned personal activity meter case,66) modeling of fluid
reliability, where samples with a length to width ratio below dynamics and numerical heat transfer revealed that shear
three experienced greater magnitude of stress. The study stress and high filling pressure during injection molding,
concluded that the reliability of printed conductive features caused device failure. In addition to computer modeling,
could be optimized by electronics layout design. In this case, stability studies were performed on the devices. A series of
the test failure criteria was defined according to IPC-9701, devices was exposed to elevated temperature and humidity
whereby if the resistance of a sample increases by 20% or according to JESD-22 A101 standard Steady State
more from the initial value for six or more consecutive Temperature Humidity Bias Life Test, with over molding
readings then the sample is classed as failed. Such pass/fail process appearing to reduce degradation, plausibly by acting
criteria are important for defining values applied in mass as a moisture barrier, preventing exposure of bare electronics
manufacture of electronic devices, to ensure compliance with to high humidity. A further stability test performed cyclic
quality assurance. bending of samples around a 15 mm radius for 1000 cycles,
© 2022 The Author(s). Published on behalf of
SE0804-5 The Japan Society of Applied Physics by IOP Publishing Ltd
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 61, SE0804 (2022) PROGRESS REVIEW

with no observed failure in the electronics. However, the as healthcare, military, aerospace, and automotive cases.
display part of the devices experienced damage, which the However, the testing strategies described in this section can
authors suggest could be rectified by improved mechanical be applied to many forms of flexible and stretchable electro-
design. nics to improve and enhance device design, architecture, and
Reliability issues with hybrid electronics can occur due to yield. Particularly when fabricated by high throughput
mechanical mismatch between soft and rigid components.74) methods.
This occurred in the earlier mentioned elastic ECG system,68) 2.6. Sustainability
which is another case where computer modeling was Manufacture of stretchable electronics can offer lower con-
employed for reliability assessment. Finite element modeling sumption of raw materials and decreased energy consumption
(FEM) was used to complement experimental testing of when compared with processes for fabrication of traditional
device performance under tensile load. FEM is especially rigid devices.76) However, as described in previous sections,
helpful in complex electrical systems, where a high density of flexible and stretchable electronic devices are typically
active and passive components are mounted on a stretchable fabricated on synthetic polymer substrates such as PET,
carrier substrate. In such cases, visual inspection methods are TPU, or PDMS, with metals and other components that are
insufficient for identifying failure points. Particularly if the not derived from sustainable sources, easily recyclable, or
failure points can be hidden, or not immediately obvious degradable at the end of a device’s lifetime. A more eco-
when the substrate is in relaxed position with no strain or conscious approach to device fabrication would include
elongation. Moreover, in-advance FEM analysis could spot incorporation of more sustainable substrate materials,77) and
potential weak points of the printed circuit layout, assisting replacing conductive silver inks with alternatives such as
with prefabrication reliability assessments. Durability testing carbon or natural biopolymers.78) Paper has recently been
of the devices revealed that they remain operational after reported as a substrate for R2R fabrication of a smart label
hundreds of deformations cycles with uniaxial strain at 5% with electrochromic display, near field communication, and
and 10% elongation. However, the device stopped collecting circuitry.79) However, properties such as high moisture
ECG data at the peak (10%) of elongation, then resumed absorbance, low tear resistance, and poor stretchability
operation once relaxed from strain. This can be explained by restrict paper as a substrate for many conformal wearable
cracks observed at the interface where between stiff and soft applications.
regions of the device. Elongation of the device generates One solution for a more sustainable substrate than pure
cracks in the interconnecting features, creating a barrier to synthetic polymers, is to form a composite from natural
electron flow. As shown in Fig. 4, these failure point substances such as cellulose.80) For example, a composite
locations were supported by FEM simulations, with edges composed of nanocellulose and polyurethane, where physical
of high deformation regions in agreement with the observed properties such as the Young’s modulus can be tuned by
locations of high crack density. adjusting the concentration of nanocellulose.45) This material
A recent study deeply investigates mechanical failure was prepared by high volume pilot line processing, and then
mechanisms in a hybrid temperature logging device formed formed into a hybrid device for temperature measurement,
by S2S process on TPU, with sequential printing of silver, with printed silver tracks connecting surface mount compo-
insulator, silver cross over, then thermode chip bonding.75) nents. Cellulose based films can be made highly transparent
The report highlights the impact of conductive adhesive (90% transparency per 100 μm at 550 nm wavelength) and
mechanical properties, with air voids noted as key a able to elongate up to 233%.81) Furthermore, replacing
contributor to device reliability failure. Nevertheless, samples traditional synthetic polymers with greener alternatives such
fabricated with an optimum combination of conductive as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)82) shows promise for the
adhesive and conductive ink did satisfy the reliability target generation of biodegradable stretchable electronics.83)
of 5000 strain cycles of 20% elongation. Further development of materials such as these are
Acceptance criteria for reliability testing of electronic expected to shift stretchable electronics devices to integration
devices is chiefly governed by the use case for the device, of more environmentally friendly materials and components,
with differing standards defined for specific applications such towards a more sustainable future.84)

(a) (b)

Fig. 4. (Color online) Reliability test findings from an elastic ECG system, with identification of failure point locations in agreement between (a) FEM strain
simulation for the distribution of longitudinal deformations, and (b) visual inspection (reproduced from Ref. 68 under terms of the CC-BY license).
© 2022 The Author(s). Published on behalf of
SE0804-6 The Japan Society of Applied Physics by IOP Publishing Ltd
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 61, SE0804 (2022) PROGRESS REVIEW

17) H. Lee et al., “A textile-based temperature-tolerant stretchable supercapa-

3. Summary and outlook citor for wearable electronics,” Adv. Funct. Mater. 31, 2106491 (2021).
18) S. Peng, Y. Yu, S. Wu, and C. H. Wang, “Conductive polymer nanocom-
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