Gas-Permeable, Multifunctional On-Skin Electronics Based on Laser-Induced Porous Graphene and Sugar-Templated Elastomer Sponges.

Abstract

Soft on-skin electronics have broad applications in human healthcare, human-machine interface, robotics, and others. However, most current on-skin electronic devices are made of materials with limited gas permeability, which constrain perspiration evaporation, resulting in adverse physiological and psychological effects, limiting their long-term feasibility. In addition, the device fabrication process usually involves e-beam or photolithography, thin-film deposition, etching, and/or other complicated procedures, which are costly and time-consuming, constraining their practical applications. Here, a simple, general, and effective approach for making multifunctional on-skin electronics using porous materials with high-gas permeability, consisting of laser-patterned porous graphene as the sensing components and sugar-templated silicone elastomer sponges as the substrates, is reported. The prototype device examples include electrophysiological sensors, hydration sensors, temperature sensors, and joule-heating elements, showing signal qualities comparable to conventional, rigid, gas-impermeable devices. Moreover, the devices exhibit high water-vapor permeability (≈18 mg cm-2 h-1 ), ≈18 times higher than that of the silicone elastomers without pores, and also show high water-wicking rates after polydopamine treatment, up to 1cm per 30 s, which is comparable to that of cotton. The on-skin devices with such attributes could facilitate perspiration transport and evaporation, and minimize discomfort and inflammation risks, thereby improving their long-term feasiblity.