PDMS/Kapton Interface Plasma Treatment Effects on the Polymeric Package for a Wearable Thermoelectric Generator

Abstract

The present work highlights the progress in the field of polymeric package reliability engineering for a flexible thermoelectric generator realized by thin-film technology on a Kapton substrate. The effects of different plasma treatments on the mechanical performance at the interface of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)/Kapton assembly were investigated. To increase the package mechanical stability of the realized wearable power source, the Kapton surface wettability after plasma exposure was investigated by static contact-angle measurements using deionized water and PDMS as test liquids. In fact, the well-known weak adhesion between PDMS and Kapton can lead to a delamination of the package with an unrecoverable damage of the generator. The plasma effect on the adhesion performances was evaluated by the scratch-test method. The best result was obtained by performing a nitrogen plasma treatment at a radio-frequency power of 20 W and a gas flow of 20 sccm, with a measured critical load of 1.45 N, which is 2.6 times greater than the value measured on an untreated Kapton substrate and 1.9 times greater than the one measured using a commercial primer.

Stretchable fabric generates electric power from woven thermoelectric fibers

“…The scalable solution for a wearable thermal harvester has become a research frontier for wearable TEGs. Some pioneering works utilize a wave-like shaped polymer substrate 8 to hold thin film-based TE materials upright in a practical direction for the heat flow. Others use island-like inorganic or metal TE materials pressed into a soft fabric with an adhesive 9 , electrochemical deposition 10 , or screen printing technique 11 to satisfy the demand of flexibility considering the thermal gradient.…”

A Review of Coating Materials Used to Improve the Performance of Optical Fiber Sensors

“…Due to its excellent biocompatibility and biologically relevant mechanical properties, it has the potential to be a fiber coating material. In the fabrication of integrated optical circuits and circuits [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], PDMS is usually made into a special waveguide in an integrated system [ 14 , 15 ]. After a large number of experimental studies, it was found that the integrated system prepared by PDMS has the characteristics of low loss, high temperature stability, and sufficient mechanical stability, and the sensitive characteristic of temperature and humidity also began to be concerned.…”

Graphene oxide/reduced graphene oxide films as protective barriers on lead against differential aeration corrosion induced by water drops

“…The images were acquired with a CMOS camera and drop-analysis was conducted aerwards. 60,61 The measurements were conducted in the laboratory with a controlled temperature of 23 C and with 50% average relative humidity. The microstratch tests were performed using a Micro-scratch test instrument (CSM, Switzerland) equipped with a diamond tip of 200 microns in diameter.…”