Mechanically Robust and Transparent Organohydrogel-Based E-Skin Nanoengineered from Natural Skin

Abstract

Electronic skins (e-skins), which are mechanically compliant with human skin, are regarded as ideal electronic devices for noninvasive human–machine interaction and wearable devices. In order to fully mimic human skin, e-skins should possess reliable mechanical properties and be able to resist external environmental factors like heat, cold, desiccation, and bacteria, while perceiving multiple external stimuli, such as temperature, humidity, and strain. Here, a transparent, mechanically robust, environmentally stable, versatile natural skin-derived organohydrogel (NSD-Gel) is nanoengineered through the integration of betaine, silver nanoparticles, and sodium chloride in a glycerol/water binary solvent. The transparent NSD-Gel e-skin exhibits outstanding tensile strength (7.33 MPa), puncture resistance, moisture retention, self-regeneration, and antibacterial properties. Additionally, the NSD-Gel e-skin possesses enhanced cold/heat resistance and stimuli-responsive characteristics that effectively sense environmental temperature and humidity changes, as well as physiological human body motion signals. In vitro and in vivo experiments show that the NSD-Gel e-skin confers desired biocompatibility and tissue protective properties even in extremely harsh environments (−196 °C to 100 °C). The NSD-Gel e-skin has great potential for applications in multidimensional wearable electronic devices, human-machine interfaces, and artificial intelligence, generating a versatile platform for the development of high-performance e-skins with on-demand properties.