Biocompatible Multifunctional E-Skins with Excellent Self-Healing Ability Enabled by Clean and Scalable Fabrication

• Published in: Nano-micro letters 2021-12, Vol.13 (1), p.200-14, Article 200
• Main Authors: Lin, Xiuzhu, Li, Fan, Bing, Yu, Fei, Teng, Liu, Sen, Zhao, Hongran, Zhang, Tong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Additives; Biocompatibility; Bluetooth; Cellulose fibers; Electronics; Engineering; Environmental friendly method; Flexible and wearable devices; Materials selection; Multifunctional e-skins; Nanofibers; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Planar structures; Polyvinyl alcohol; Post-processing; Scalability; Self-healing electronics; Signal monitoring; Signal processing; Skin; Smartphones; Solvents; Strain sensors; Structural design; Substrates
• ISSN: 2311-6706; 2150-5551
• DOI: 10.1007/s40820-021-00701-8

Highlights A printable multifunctional electronic skin (e-skin) with an excellent self-healing ability was developed via a simple, clean and universally applicable method. Water served as both the only solvent throughout the fabrication process and the trigger of the self-healing process. Each e-skin component was biocompatible. Combined with conventional electronics, signals collected by the e-skin could be transmitted to smartphones via Bluetooth for post-processing. Electronic skins (e-skins) with an excellent sensing performance have been widely developed over the last few decades. However, wearability, biocompatibility, environmental friendliness and scalability have become new limitations. Self-healing ability can improve the long-term robustness and reliability of e-skins. However, self-healing ability and integration are hardly balanced in classical structures of self-healable devices. Here, cellulose nanofiber/poly(vinyl alcohol) (CNF/PVA), a biocompatible moisture-inspired self-healable composite, was applied both as the binder in functional layers and the substrate. Various functional layers comprising particular carbon materials and CNF/PVA were patterned on the substrate. A planar structure was beneficial for integration, and the active self-healing ability of the functional layers endowed self-healed e-skins with a higher toughness. Water served as both the only solvent throughout the fabrication process and the trigger of the self-healing process, which avoids the pollution and bioincompatibility caused by the application of noxious additives. Our e-skins could achieve real-time monitoring of whole-body physiological signals and environmental temperature and humidity. Cross-interference between different external stimuli was suppressed through reasonable material selection and structural design. Combined with conventional electronics, data could be transmitted to a nearby smartphone for post-processing. This work provides a previously unexplored strategy for multifunctional e-skins with an excellent practicality.