Conductive fibers have received considerable interest due to their potential applications in the flexible electronics field. Fabricating a conductive fiber that can realize fast deformation with stretchability for multifunctional applications is still highly appealing. Here, we present a deformable conductive fiber (DCF) fabricated by injecting liquid metal (LM) into a hollow thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fiber; the DCF can be shaped into a 2D or 3D shape by an electrothermal method at the thermoplastic transition point of TPU. Combined with the solid–liquid phase transition characteristics of the LM at its melting point, the DCF exhibits a variable shape memory feature at two transition points. We have demonstrated that the double-torsional DCF and the helical DCF can act as a capacitive sensor and an inductive sensor, respectively, and they have both been used for human motion monitoring. In addition, the helical DCF can also act as a stretchable electrode with excellent electrical properties (resistance change <2%) under a maximal mechanical strain of 3300%. Overall, the DCF presents great potential for applications in human motion monitoring, soft robotics and smart electronic textiles.

论文链接：https://doi.org/10.1039/D1SM01189H