Nano-Micro Letters, Volume. 16, Issue 1, 087(2024)

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

Qian Wang1...2, Yanyan Li1,2, Yong Lin1,2, Yuping Sun1,2, Chong Bai1,2, Haorun Guo3, Ting Fang1,2, Gaohua Hu1,2, Yanqing Lu1,4,*, and Desheng Kong12,** |Show fewer author(s)
Author Affiliations
  • 1College 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
  • 2State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, People’s Republic of China
  • 3College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Engineering Research Center of Seawater Utilization Technology of Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory of Reliability and Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, People’s Republic of China
  • 4Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, People’s Republic of China
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    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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    Qian Wang, Yanyan Li, Yong Lin, Yuping Sun, Chong Bai, Haorun Guo, Ting Fang, Gaohua Hu, Yanqing Lu, Desheng Kong. A Generic Strategy to Create Mechanically Interlocked Nanocomposite/Hydrogel Hybrid Electrodes for Epidermal Electronics[J]. Nano-Micro Letters, 2024, 16(1): 087

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    Paper Information

    Category: Research Articles

    Received: Jul. 31, 2023

    Accepted: Dec. 2, 2023

    Published Online: Jan. 23, 2025

    The Author Email: Lu Yanqing (yqlu@nju.edu.cn), Kong Desheng (dskong@nju.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.1007/s40820-023-01314-z

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