eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Material Science Research India 0973-3469 2026-05-11 23 1 24084 article Ayushi Singh 1 Neha Agrawal 1 Savita Gaur 1 Product Development and Technology Management Division, Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS-DRDO), Delhi, Delhi, India Electrical and thermal conducting flexible composite materials are in demand for next-generation electronics. Devices like biomedical instruments, conducting textiles, low-power sources, electronic skin, and flexible displays require stretchable conductors possessing high electrical conductivity under excessive strain and deformation. In this respect, renewable, sustainable materials and/or their biomimicry could help to generate a three-dimensional, highly dense structure. We in this study have hence used the naturally occurring, densified non-conducting feather skeleton to develop three-dimensional conducting films. Herein, the natural feathers were treated with polydopamine solution to create a coating layer with dual action, as a linker for conductive filler as well as for self-adherence of feathers. The optimized amount of feathers and polydopamine is adsorbed with modified carbon nanotubes. Two simple laboratory methods of dip coating and freeze-drying process for the adsorption of conducting material, were optimized. The feathers themselves and polydopamine-coated feathers showed nil electrical conductivity, while different concentrations of filler-containing films showed electrical resistance from 5 to 1 kilo ohm. The film showed similar resistance after bending (50%), stretching (50%), compressing, and even breaking the film and reforming it 10 times exhibited similar trends. The high conductivity, electromechanical stability, and easy production methods make such nano-bio composites as renewable substrates for next-generation electronic devices. https://www.materialsciencejournal.org/vol23no1/densifying-conduction-network-in-the-skeleton-of-non-conducting-natural-feathers-for-developing-flexible-conductive-composite/ Conducting Film Densified Structures Modified Carbon Nanotubes Natural Feathers Renewable Sources