Tunable dielectric constants and mechanical properties of PDMS and conducting polymer nanowire composites

A generic experimental procedure is presented in this work enabling the enhancement of the electrical responses of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through incorporation of conducting polymer nanowires (CPNWs), while maintaining the desirable mechanical flexibility of PDMS. The dielectric constants of the composites are characterized by impedance measurements, and the effect of nanowire concentration is investigated by the percolation theory using a continuous hyperbolic tangent function. The viscoelastic properties of the composites are characterized by the stress relaxation nanoindentation tests, and the effect of nanowire concentration on the elastic modulus of composites is studied by the Wang-Pyrz model.