Ionic Network Based on Dynamic Ionic Liquids for Electronic Tattoo Application

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2021-07, Vol.13 (28), p.33557-33565
• Main Authors: Chen, Zhiwu, Gao, Naiwei, Chu, Yanji, He, Yonglin, Wang, Yapei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applications of Polymer, Composite, and Coating Materials
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c09278

Electronic tattoos as an emerging epidermal electronic are alluring in the field of wearable electronics for their lightweight and noninvasive properties. However, the combination of flexibility, skin biocompatibility, adhesion, repairability, and erasability remains a challenge for fabricating electronic tattoos. Hence, a dynamic ionic liquid is prepared which is ideally suited for making an electronic tattoo with these challenging features at the same time. Such an intrinsically flexible electronic tattoo can be firmly attached to human skin with negligible irritation. More importantly, the existence of dynamic covalent chemistry provides the electronic tattoo with healing and erasable abilities under mild redox conditions. Owing to the high ionic conductivity of ionic liquids, the electronic tattoo exhibits excellent sensing performance in response to the temperature variation and tensile strain, which can intelligently monitor body temperature, pulse, and movement. As an extension of the application, a specially designed quadrilateral electronic tattoo can sense and distinguish multiple signals simultaneously. This concept of electronic tattoo based on the dynamic ionic liquid shows great potentials in the applications of intelligent wearable electronics.