Wearable Electrocardiogram Monitor Using Carbon Nanotube Electronics and Color-Tunable Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

With the rapid advances in wearable electronics, the research on carbon-based and/or organic materials and devices has become increasingly important, owing to their advantages in terms of cost, weight, and mechanical deformability. Here, we report an effective material and device design for an integrative wearable cardiac monitor based on carbon nanotube (CNT) electronics and voltage-dependent color-tunable organic light-emitting diodes (CTOLEDs). A p-MOS inverter based on four CNT transistors allows high amplification and thereby successful acquisition of the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. In the CTOLEDs, an ultrathin exciton block layer of bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether oxide is used to manipulate the balance of charges between two adjacent emission layers, bis[2-(4,6-difluorophenyl)pyridinato-C²,N](picolinato)iridium(III) and bis(2-phenylquinolyl-N,C(2'))iridium(acetylacetonate), which thereby produces different colors with respect to applied voltages. The ultrathin nature of the fabricated devices supports extreme wearability and conformal integration of the sensor on human skin. The wearable CTOLEDs integrated with CNT electronics are used to display human ECG changes in real-time using tunable colors. These materials and device strategies provide opportunities for next generation wearable health indicators.