Permeable superelastic liquid-metal fibre mat enables biocompatible and monolithic stretchable electronics
Top Cited Papers
- 18 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Materials
- Vol. 20 (6), 859-868
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00902-3
Abstract
Stretchable electronics find widespread uses in a variety of applications such as wearable electronics, on-skin electronics, soft robotics and bioelectronics. Stretchable electronic devices conventionally built with elastomeric thin films show a lack of permeability, which not only impedes wearing comfort and creates skin inflammation over long-term wearing but also limits the design form factors of device integration in the vertical direction. Here, we report a stretchable conductor that is fabricated by simply coating or printing liquid metal onto an electrospun elastomeric fibre mat. We call this stretchable conductor a liquid-metal fibre mat. Liquid metal hanging among the elastomeric fibres self-organizes into a laterally mesh-like and vertically buckled structure, which offers simultaneously high permeability, stretchability, conductivity and electrical stability. Furthermore, the liquid-metal fibre mat shows good biocompatibility and smart adaptiveness to omnidirectional stretching over 1,800% strain. We demonstrate the use of a liquid-metal fibre mat as a building block to realize highly permeable, multifunctional monolithic stretchable electronics.Funding Information
- Society of Hong Kong Scholars (XJ2016051)
- Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee (PolyU 153032/18P)
- National Science Foundation of China | National Natural Science Foundation of China-Yunnan Joint Fund (51872095)
- Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2018A030313059)
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