Abstract
Flexible and wearable electronic devices are emerging as the novel platform for portable health monitoring, human–machine interaction, and some other electronic/optic applications. Future development of human-friendly smart electronics relies on efficient manufacturing and processing of advanced functional materials on flexible/stretchable substrates with effective device integration. Inkjet printing, known as a highly efficient solution-based printing and patterning technology with low-cost, high-quality, and high-throughput advantages, suits large-scale fabrication of flexible and wearable electronics. Over the years, researchers focused on high pattern resolution and uniformity on flexible substrates for advanced electrical/optical performances by various inkjet printing techniques. Different ink materials that can realize multiple functions have been fully investigated for achieving favorable printability and desired interactions with the substrates. Here, the most recently reported inkjet printing strategies, functional ink materials, and diverse inkjet-printed wearable electronic devices for practical applications (e.g., sensors, displays, transistors, and energy storage devices) are summarized. An outlook on future challenges as well as opportunities of inkjet-printed flexible and wearable electronics for research development and industrial commercialization is also presented.
Highlights
The past few years have witnessed boost in the research of flexible and wearable electronics on skin surfaces or integrated into cloth for versatile functions concerning healthcare monitoring, signal sensing and analyzing, information displaying, and human– machine interaction.[1,2,3,4] Preliminary wearable electronic devices such as the iWatch have been playing increasingly significant roles in people’s daily lives
Weber number (We) summarize various ink materials for inkjet printing, which offer novel specialties for high-performance electronic devices, and discuss some novel strategies that overcome the potential limitations of scalable production in inkjet printing
To avoid agglomeration of dispersed particles, the ink materials can be modified with functional groups by introducing stabilizing agents.[14,22]
Summary
The past few years have witnessed boost in the research of flexible and wearable electronics on skin surfaces or integrated into cloth for versatile functions concerning healthcare monitoring, signal sensing and analyzing, information displaying, and human– machine interaction.[1,2,3,4] Preliminary wearable electronic devices such as the iWatch have been playing increasingly significant roles in people’s daily lives. There still exist many challenges that make this technology relatively unfavorable at this stage These challenges include, but are not limited to, the prevention of nozzle clogging, restraint of the coffee-ring effect, enhancement of ink dispersibility, reduction of sintering temperature for flexible substrates, promotion of electrical and mechanical properties, and device designing for human body integration. We summarize various ink materials for inkjet printing (e.g., polymer, metal, carbon, and, in particular, the surging hydrogels and 2D materials), which offer novel specialties for high-performance electronic devices, and discuss some novel strategies that overcome the potential limitations of scalable production in inkjet printing. We provide some recently reported cases of advanced inkjet-printed flexible and wearable electronics with state-of-the-art performances for applications such as sensors, displays, transistors, energy storage devices, and some other electronics
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