Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea.
Nat Nanotechnol. 2018 Nov;13(11):1057-1065. doi: 10.1038/s41565-018-0244-6. Epub 2018 Aug 20.
Electronic skin devices capable of monitoring physiological signals and displaying feedback information through closed-loop communication between the user and electronics are being considered for next-generation wearables and the 'Internet of Things'. Such devices need to be ultrathin to achieve seamless and conformal contact with the human body, to accommodate strains from repeated movement and to be comfortable to wear. Recently, self-healing chemistry has driven important advances in deformable and reconfigurable electronics, particularly with self-healable electrodes as the key enabler. Unlike polymer substrates with self-healable dynamic nature, the disrupted conducting network is unable to recover its stretchability after damage. Here, we report the observation of self-reconstruction of conducting nanostructures when in contact with a dynamically crosslinked polymer network. This, combined with the self-bonding property of self-healing polymer, allowed subsequent heterogeneous multi-component device integration of interconnects, sensors and light-emitting devices into a single multi-functional system. This first autonomous self-healable and stretchable multi-component electronic skin paves the way for future robust electronics.
能够通过用户和电子设备之间的闭环通信来监测生理信号并显示反馈信息的电子皮肤设备，正被视为下一代可穿戴设备和“物联网”的研究方向。这类设备需要超薄，以实现与人体的无缝和贴合接触，适应反复运动产生的应变，并且佩戴舒适。最近，自修复化学在可变形和可重构电子领域取得了重要进展，特别是自修复电极是关键的推动因素。与具有自修复动态特性的聚合物衬底不同，被破坏的导电网络在损坏后无法恢复其拉伸性。在这里，我们报告了在与动态交联聚合物网络接触时观察到的导电纳米结构的自重建。这一点，再加上自修复聚合物的自键合特性，使得后续的异质多组分器件能够将互连、传感器和发光器件集成到单个多功能系统中。这种首个自主自修复和可拉伸的多组分电子皮肤为未来的坚固电子产品铺平了道路。
