Preparation of the artificial “skin” uniform sweating simulation device

Abstract

<p indent="0mm">To meet the needs of testing wearable sweat sensors and epidermal electronic devices on the skin surface during sweating, a sweat simulation device with facile preparation, good repeatability, and stable performance was developed. Fabrication methods and design principles used in artificial microfluidic “skin” layers were proposed. The top layer of the artificial microfluidic “skin” layer is composed of rigid materials such as stainless steel to keep its structure stable, which simulate the sweat pore density and hydrophilicity of the skin surface; the bottom layer is composed of polyethylene terephthalate track etching film to provide sufficient driving force; the interface between the top and bottom layers is bonded by a thin polydimethylsiloxane film, which possesses the characteristics of high stability and easy removal and replacement. The sweat simulation device controls the flow rate through a syringe pump and realizes a stable, uniform, and wide-range sweat rate simulation. The simulative flow rate per unit area is <sc>0.21–211.53 μL min⁻¹ cm⁻²,</sc> which effectively covers the physiological sweating range of human skin. This study plays an important role in understanding wearable sweat sensor testing and microfluidic devices.