Niu Haoran, Lin Zhanhong, Yu Peixi, Luo Hongsui, Peng Chunrui, Ning Wenping, Li Bo, Wei Yimin, Guo Qiuquan, Yang Jun, Zhang Dongxing, Jia Peipei
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Study, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Shenzhen 518110, China.
Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Study, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Shenzhen 518110, China.
J Colloid Interface Sci. 2025 Nov;697:137984. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137984. Epub 2025 May 26.
Hydrogels have emerged as transformative materials in human-machine interfaces due to its similarity to natural biological tissues. However, existing hydrogels generally suffer from inherent drawbacks such as low mechanical strength, insufficient conformability, and poor environmental tolerance, which severely limit long-term, reliable, and seamless interactions between humans and machines. In this study, a synergistic strategy of fiber reinforcement and solvent displacement is employed to develop an ultrathin, tough, anti-freezing, and anti-dehydration composite hydrogel interface. Benefiting from the efficient energy dissipation and stress transfer mechanisms of the styrene ethylene butylene styrene/polyurethane (SEBS/PU) composite fibers, the resulting 20 μm ultrathin hydrogel exhibits exceptional mechanical properties, with a fracture elongation of 676.7 %, toughness of 2.78 MJ m, and Young's modulus of 544.7 kPa, enabling conformal interfacing with multiple human skin regions. Furthermore, the glycerol/water binary solvent system, through hydrogen bonding with water molecules, imparts the hydrogel with excellent anti-freezing and anti-dehydration properties. Notably, epidermal electrodes designed from this hydrogel achieve seamless integration with human skin, enabling long-term, high-fidelity (31.41 dB) electrophysiological signal monitoring, demonstrating significant potential for applications in wearable health monitoring, medical diagnostics, and augmented reality systems.
水凝胶因其与天然生物组织的相似性，已成为人机界面中的变革性材料。然而，现有的水凝胶通常存在固有的缺点，如机械强度低、贴合性不足和环境耐受性差，这严重限制了人机之间长期、可靠和无缝的交互。在本研究中，采用纤维增强和溶剂置换的协同策略来开发一种超薄、坚韧、抗冻和抗脱水的复合水凝胶界面。受益于苯乙烯 - 乙烯 - 丁烯 - 苯乙烯/聚氨酯（SEBS/PU）复合纤维的高效能量耗散和应力传递机制，所得的20μm超薄水凝胶具有出色的机械性能，断裂伸长率为676.7%，韧性为2.78MJ/m，杨氏模量为544.7kPa，能够与多个人体皮肤区域实现贴合连接。此外，甘油/水二元溶剂体系通过与水分子形成氢键，赋予水凝胶优异的抗冻和抗脱水性能。值得注意的是，由这种水凝胶设计的表皮电极能够与人体皮肤无缝集成，实现长期、高保真（31.41dB）的电生理信号监测，在可穿戴健康监测、医学诊断和增强现实系统中显示出巨大的应用潜力。
