Electrical Resistance Behavior of Printed Ag Nanowire Electrode Lines Under Transverse Tensile Strain

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Printed stretchable interconnects may experience tensile deformation perpendicular to the direction of current flow, but their electrical response under transverse loading remains insufficiently understood. In this study, dispenser-printed silver nanowire (Ag NW) line electrodes on polydimethylsiloxane were subjected to transverse tensile strains of 10–40% for 10 stretching–release cycles. Ten specimens were tested at each strain level. Resistance was measured in situ, and deformation-induced changes in the Ag NW network were examined using optical microscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). To distinguish the effects of macroscopic deformation from changes in network connectivity, the measured resistance was compared with geometric predictions based on Poisson-induced shortening of the printed line. At 10% strain, the stretched-state resistance closely followed the geometric prediction and remained nearly unchanged during cycling. At 20% strain, the resistance increased progressively with repeated cycling and local cracks were observed, whereas the first-cycle deviation from the geometric reference remained small relative to the specimen-to-specimen variation. At 30% and 40% strain, the measured resistance clearly exceeded the geometric reference in both the stretched and released states. After 10 cycles at 40% strain, the corresponding relative resistances reached 1.369 and 1.736, respectively. FESEM observations showed that conductive nanowire bridges remained across locally cracked regions at 20% strain, whereas crack penetration into the line interior and local pathway loss were observed at 30% strain. These results indicate an intermediate response at 20% strain and a clear transition to a network-damage-dominated response at 30% strain.