Abstract
Fiber-based electronics enabling lightweight and mechanically flexible/stretchable functions are desirable for numerous e-textile/e-skin optoelectronic applications. These wearable devices require low-cost manufacturing, high reliability, multifunctionality and long-term stability. Here, we report the preparation of representative classes of 3D-inorganic nanofiber network (FN) films by a blow-spinning technique, including semiconducting indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) and copper oxide, as well as conducting indium-tin oxide and copper metal. Specifically, thin-film transistors based on IGZO FN exhibit negligible performance degradation after one thousand bending cycles and exceptional room-temperature gas sensing performance. Owing to their great stretchability, these metal oxide FNs can be laminated/embedded on/into elastomers, yielding multifunctional single-sensing resistors as well as fully monolithically integrated e-skin devices. These can detect and differentiate multiple stimuli including analytes, light, strain, pressure, temperature, humidity, body movement, and respiratory functions. All of these FN-based devices exhibit excellent sensitivity, response time, and detection limits, making them promising candidates for versatile wearable electronics.
Highlights
Fiber-based electronics enabling lightweight and mechanically flexible/stretchable functions are desirable for numerous e-textile/e-skin optoelectronic applications
High stretchability is achieved by mounting middle-coverage (0.5 μm−1) indium-galliumzinc oxide (IGZO) FNs on poly[styrene-b(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene] (SEBS) substrates to achieve IGZO resistors, which are capable of sensing strain, ultraviolet–visible (UV-vis) light, temperature, and exhaled breath vapors with excellent performance
The use of this particular polymer is found to be critical since when combined with the metal oxide (MO) salt precursors it enables efficient fiber formation in contrast to other polymers we examined such as polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyethylene oxide
Summary
Fiber-based electronics enabling lightweight and mechanically flexible/stretchable functions are desirable for numerous e-textile/e-skin optoelectronic applications. We report the general synthesis of several representative classes of three-dimensional (3D) MO nanofiber networks (FNs) with different coverages (CFN, the total length of fibers per unit area), including semiconducting IGZO and copper oxide (CuO), as well as conducting ITO and copper metal (Cu) by a solution-based blow-spinning technique. Using these fibrous materials, functional thin-film transistors (TFTs) and resistor-based sensors are demonstrated. We demonstrate a monolithically integrated IGZO+ITO+CuO resistor platform, in the form of a patch, capable of multisensory recognition
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