3D Printed Stretchable Electronics: Fabrication using Aerosol Jet, Fundamental Mechanics, and Applications

Electrical signals form the basis for information transfer in several biological systems and devices that capture these signals are of significant interest to the healthcare industry. Such devices are currently made from Si based components and metal interconnects and typically have an elastic modulus about 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than that of biological tissue. This gap has spurred the development of stretchable electronic devices where a soft platform ‘hosts’ the mechanically stiff electrical elements such as chips and interconnects, while the low elastic modulus substrate achieves a seamless interface with the biological tissue of interest. Such systems are playing an increasingly important role in emerging areas such as soft robotics and smart clothing. In this thesis, aerosol jet nanoparticle 3D printing is used to create a stretchable electronic system consisting of three-dimensional interconnects enabling multilayered connections embedded within a thin (