Effect of carbon nanotubes functionalization with sericin on mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of stretchable conductor matrix

Stretchable conductors are components used in soft electronics due to its flexibility, soft, and wearable. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are commonly used as fillers due to its excellent mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. Non-covalent functionalization is employed to enhance the hydrophilicity of carbon nanotubes (CNT) while preserving their surface structure and mechanical properties. Sericin has aromatic amino acids which is capable of modifying CNTs by non-covalent functionalization via sonication. This functionalization process was performed with varying CNT loads of 1, 3, 5, and 7. The composite material consisted of styrene-butadiene latex (SBR) combined with dicumyl peroxide (DCP). The increase in CNT loading in the composite increases the tensile strength, elastic modulus, and cross-linking density. Functionalized CNT (CNT-f-SS) increased the tensile strength from 2.53 Mpa to 3.03 Mpa and the modulus of elasticity from 4.74 Mpa to 20.26 Mpa. The cross-linking density also increased from 0.153 mol/cm3 to 0.177 mol/cm3, and the electrical conductivity value from 0.0025 S/m to 0.0321 S/m.