A Generic Strategy to Create Mechanically Interlocked Nanocomposite/Hydrogel Hybrid Electrodes for Epidermal Electronics.

Nanomicro Lett

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, People's Republic of China.

Published: January 2024

Stretchable electronics are crucial enablers for next-generation wearables intimately integrated into the human body. As the primary compliant conductors used in these devices, metallic nanostructure/elastomer composites often struggle to form conformal contact with the textured skin. Hybrid electrodes have been consequently developed based on conductive nanocomposite and soft hydrogels to establish seamless skin-device interfaces. However, chemical modifications are typically needed for reliable bonding, which can alter their original properties. To overcome this limitation, this study presents a facile fabrication approach for mechanically interlocked nanocomposite/hydrogel hybrid electrodes. In this physical process, soft microfoams are thermally laminated on silver nanowire nanocomposites as a porous interface, which forms an interpenetrating network with the hydrogel. The microfoam-enabled bonding strategy is generally compatible with various polymers. The resulting interlocked hybrids have a 28-fold improved interfacial toughness compared to directly stacked hybrids. These electrodes achieve firm attachment to the skin and low contact impedance using tissue-adhesive hydrogels. They have been successfully integrated into an epidermal sleeve to distinguish hand gestures by sensing muscle contractions. Interlocked nanocomposite/hydrogel hybrids reported here offer a promising platform to combine the benefits of both materials for epidermal devices and systems.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10786775PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40820-023-01314-zDOI Listing

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