Silicone-Based Adhesives with Highly Tunable Adhesion Force for Skin-Contact Applications

A fundamental approach to fabricating silicone-based adhesives with highly tunable adhesion force for the skin-contact applications is presented. Liquid blends consisting of vinyl-multifunctional polydimethylsiloxane (V-PDMS), hydride-terminated PDMS (H-PDMS), and a tackifier composed of a silanol-terminated PDMS/MQ resin mixture and the MQ resin are used as the adhesive materials. The peel adhesion force of addition-cured adhesives on the skin is increased by increasing the H-PDMS molecular weights and the tackifier content, and decreasing the H-PDMS/V-PDMS ratio. There is an inverse relationship between the adhesion force and the Young's modulus. The low-modulus adhesives with a low H-PDMS/V-PDMS ratio exhibit enhanced adhesion properties. The low-modulus adhesives with the high MQ resin content show significantly enhanced adhesion properties. These adhesives exhibit a wide range of modulus (2-499 kPa), and their adhesion force (0.04-5.38 N) is superior to commercially available soft silicone adhesives (0.82-2.79 N). The strong adhesives (>≈2 N) provide sufficient adhesion for fixing the flexible electrocardiogram (ECG) device to the skin in most daily activity. The human ECG signals are successfully recorded in real time. These results suggest that the silicone-based adhesives should be useful as an atraumatic adhesive for the skin-contact applications.