A ternary heterogeneous hydrogel with strength elements for resilient, self-healing, and recyclable epidermal electronics

Abstract

Epidermal sensing devices, which mimic functionalities and mechanical properties of natural skin, offer great potential for real-time health monitoring via continuous checking of vital signs. However, most existing skin-mounted electronics use a flexible film with high elastic modulus, which hinders physical activity and causes interfacial delamination and skin irritation. The compliance of hydrogel-based devices can firmly conform to complex, curved surfaces without introducing excessive interfacial stresses. However, most hydrogels still suffer from the weakness of stable and reproducible sensing. In this work, we report a skin-friendly epidermal electronic made of a resilient, self-healing, and recyclable polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel. The hydrogel is reinforced through a ternary heterogeneous network for good mechanical robustness while maintaining high stretchability and exceptional conformability. Simultaneously, the abundant dynamic hydrogen bonds give the hydrogel rapid self-healing ability. The assembled hydrogel epidermal electronic is able to stably monitor multiple physiological signals as well as sense the strain level of the skin motion and joint bending. The unique, versatile, environmental and biological friendly epidermal electronics will have broad applications in health care, human-machine interface, augmented reality, and so on.