Nano-Micro Letters, Volume. 16, Issue 1, 170(2024)

Compliant Iontronic Triboelectric Gels with Phase-Locked Structure Enabled by Competitive Hydrogen Bonding

Guoli Du, Yuzheng Shao, Bin Luo, Tao Liu, Jiamin Zhao, Ying Qin, Jinlong Wang, Song Zhang, Mingchao Chi, Cong Gao, Yanhua Liu, Chenchen Cai, Shuangfei Wang, and Shuangxi Nie*
Author Affiliations
  • School of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, People’s Republic of China
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    Rapid advancements in flexible electronics technology propel soft tactile sensing devices toward high-level biointegration, even attaining tactile perception capabilities surpassing human skin. However, the inherent mechanical mismatch resulting from deficient biomimetic mechanical properties of sensing materials poses a challenge to the application of wearable tactile sensing devices in human–machine interaction. Inspired by the innate biphasic structure of human subcutaneous tissue, this study discloses a skin-compliant wearable iontronic triboelectric gel via phase separation induced by competitive hydrogen bonding. Solvent-nonsolvent interactions are used to construct competitive hydrogen bonding systems to trigger phase separation, and the resulting soft-hard alternating phase-locked structure confers the iontronic triboelectric gel with Young's modulus (6.8–281.9 kPa) and high tensile properties (880%) compatible with human skin. The abundance of reactive hydroxyl groups gives the gel excellent tribopositive and self-adhesive properties (peel strength > 70 N m-1). The self-powered tactile sensing skin based on this gel maintains favorable interface and mechanical stability with the working object, which greatly ensures the high fidelity and reliability of soft tactile sensing signals. This strategy, enabling skin-compliant design and broad dynamic tunability of the mechanical properties of sensing materials, presents a universal platform for broad applications from soft robots to wearable electronics.

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    Guoli Du, Yuzheng Shao, Bin Luo, Tao Liu, Jiamin Zhao, Ying Qin, Jinlong Wang, Song Zhang, Mingchao Chi, Cong Gao, Yanhua Liu, Chenchen Cai, Shuangfei Wang, Shuangxi Nie. Compliant Iontronic Triboelectric Gels with Phase-Locked Structure Enabled by Competitive Hydrogen Bonding[J]. Nano-Micro Letters, 2024, 16(1): 170

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    Paper Information

    Category: Research Articles

    Received: Jan. 20, 2024

    Accepted: Feb. 28, 2024

    Published Online: Apr. 29, 2024

    The Author Email: Nie Shuangxi (nieshuangxi@gxu.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.1007/s40820-024-01387-4

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