A solution-processable and highly flexible conductor of a fluoroelastomer FKM and carbon nanotubes with tuned electrical conductivity and mechanical performance.

The use of fluoroelastomer nanocomposites for flexible electronics is increasing due to their high deformability and recoverability. Often, a high amount of conductive nanofillers and crosslinking agents is required to improve their mechanical performance, which unfavorably affects the electrical percolation threshold and conductivity due to dispersion issues. Herein, we developed a unique solution mixing (SM) technique by a fine-tuned formulation to obtain well-dispersed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in fluoroelastomer FKM for both low and high CNT concentrations (0.

Wrinkles and creases in the bending, unbending and eversion of soft sectors.

We study what is clearly one of the most common modes of deformation found in nature, science and engineering, namely the large elastic bending of curved structures, as well as its inverse, unbending, which can be brought beyond complete straightening to turn into eversion. We find that the suggested mathematical solution to these problems always exists and is unique when the solid is modelled as a homogeneous, isotropic, incompressible hyperelastic material with a strain-energy satisfying the strong ellipticity condition. We also provide explicit asymptotic solutions for thin sectors.

A cross-linking model for estimating Young's modulus of artificial bone tissue grown on carbon nanotube scaffold.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) provide a suitable environment for growth and proliferation of bone cells. The elastic properties exhibited by CNTs can enhance mechanical characteristics of bone mineral phase, hydroxyapatite (HAp), precipitated on such a scaffold. In this article, a simplified model for estimating the axial Young's modulus of a representative volume element (RVE) of CNT-HAp composite is presented.