A pre-strain strategy for developing a highly stretchable and foldable one-dimensional conductive cord based on a Ag nanowire network.

A highly stretchable and foldable conductive cord was developed by depositing silver nanowires (AgNWs) on a polyurethane cord. The application of pre-strain to the cord during the deposition of AgNWs resulted in the formation of a wrinkled AgNW layer, thereby inducing structural stability towards stretching and bending. This conductive cord exhibited stable electric conduction under strain values of up to 167% and at a bending radius of 0.3 mm. Also, it could withstand a stretching test of 500 cycles at a strain of 50%.