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Vol. 16 (2024)

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

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-023-01314-z
Qian Wang
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
Yanyan Li
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
Yong Lin
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
Yuping Sun
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
Chong Bai
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
Haorun Guo
College 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
Ting Fang
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
Gaohua Hu
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
Yanqing Lu
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
Desheng Kong
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

Corresponding Author: Desheng Kong

dskong@nju.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 16 (2024), Article Number: 87

Abstract

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.


Highlights:
1 Nanocomposite/hydrogel hybrid electrodes are created with high interfacial toughness by introducing soft microfoams as the mechanically interlocking layer.
2 In the hybrid electrodes, silver nanowires and hydrogels are electrically connected through the porous microfoams, achieving high conductivity and low contact impedance for high-quality biopotential recordings.
3 The microfoam-enabled bonding strategy is generally applicable to diverse polymer substrates.

Keywords

Stretchable electronics Epidermal electronics Silver nanowire Conductive nanocomposites Hydrogel
Wang, Qian, Yanyan Li, Yong Lin, Yuping Sun, Chong Bai, Haorun Guo, Ting Fang, Gaohua Hu, Yanqing Lu, and Desheng Kong. 2024. “A Generic Strategy to Create Mechanically Interlocked Nanocomposite/Hydrogel Hybrid Electrodes for Epidermal Electronics”. Nano-Micro Letters 16 (January):87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-023-01314-z.
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