Mussel Byssus Inspired Ionic Skin with Damage‐Resistant Signal for Human–Machine Interaction

Abstract

AbstractReliable human–machine interactions rely highly on a material that can provide stable real‐time conductivity in the presence of unexpected damage. The closest step toward this goal is to create various self‐healing materials, but the performance of the material will inevitably be interrupted during the process of healing. Herein, it is reported that damage‐resistant conductivity of a skin‐like polyelectrolyte film electrode can be achieved by creating hierarchical pores in analogy to those in mussel byssus. The hierarchical porous structure in mussel byssus is well‐known to expel water quickly from the rock surface, but its role in recovering the ionic conductivity has been overlooked. It is shown that the ionic conductivity in the porous film remains stable as long as a small part of the film is still in contacting, owing to the fast ion transportation in the hierarchical pores. As such, the real‐time conductivity does not change even if the skin‐like film is cut with a knife or pieced with a needle during work. It is envisioned that the current damage‐resistant ionic electrode wants to open a new vista in the design of soft conductive devices for reliable human–machine interactions.