A highly stretchable, breathable and thermoregulatory electronic skin based on the polyolefin elastomer nanofiber membrane

Abstract

Electronic skins have attracted increasing attentions due to their potential applications in skin prosthetics, humanoid robotics and wearable health monitoring. Along with the development of E-skin, safety, health and comfort have become essential elements that may affect the practical applications. In this study, a highly stretchable, hydrophobic polyolefin elastomer (POE) nanofiber membrane (NM) was prepared. The three dimensional porous structure of POE NM endows it good breathability, allowing the air and water vapor to permeate through it. Moreover, the POE NM is transparent to IR radiation, as a result the body heat could be dissipated through it, realizing the thermoregulatory property. The good breathability and thermoregulation of E-skin will help to create a safe, healthy and comfortable microenvironment for people by preventing overheat, stuffiness and inflammation. Then, a real functional and biomimetic strain sensor based on Ag@POE NM was prepared to monitor the human physiology and movement. The low detection limit (0.05%), fast response time (10 ms) and superior sensitivity (3953, 30%) indicate the potentially promising applications of POE NM based E-skin as wearable electronics. It is the first time that the concept of thermoregulation is introduced into the E-skin, pointing out a new direction for the development of wearable electronic devices.