Electrically Conducting PDMS Nanocompsite Using in-Situ Reduction of Gold Nanostructures and Mechanical Stimulation of Carbon Nanotubes

Electrically conducting nanocomposite has numerous application potential in flexible MEMS and wearable electronics. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been identified as an attractive candidate for the fabrication of Bio-MEMS devices due to its several benefits such as biocompatibility, good optical properties, easy and low-cost fabrication using soft-lithography, etc. In this work, an electrically conducting PDMS nanocomposite is synthesized using a novel combined process of in-situ reduction by curing agent of PDMS from aqueous gold chloride solution, and mechanical stimulation of multi-wall carbon nanotubes. The electrical and thermal properties of the nanocomposite is characterized for various concentration of gold chloride solution and conducting fillers in the PDMS matrix. Further, the nanocomposite is micropatterned to fabricate heating elements and electrical signal routing lines in flexible PDMS sheets.