Highly Robust, Transparent, and Breathable Epidermal Electrode.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Electronic skins require high-performance, skin-like electrodes for on-body sensing and human-machine interfaces.
• Existing electrodes often lack the necessary robustness, transparency, and breathability for long-term epidermal use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly robust, transparent, and breathable epidermal electrode.
• To investigate the performance of a scaffold-reinforced conductive nanonetwork (SRCN) for electronic skin applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of SRCN by embedding silver nanowires into a polyamide nanofiber scaffold via vacuum filtration.
• Characterization of optical transmittance, sheet resistance, and mechanical/environmental robustness (bending, saline immersion).

Main Results:

• Achieved 84.9% optical transmittance at 550 nm with a sheet resistance of 8.2 Ω sq⁻¹.
• Demonstrated exceptional robustness: <0.1% resistance change after 3000 bending cycles and <1.5% after 2500 saline immersion cycles.
• SRCN exhibits conformal bonding and breathability, suitable for long-term epidermal use.

Conclusions:

• The SRCN electrode offers a promising solution for advanced electronic skins due to its superior mechanical robustness, transparency, and conductivity.
• The nanofiber scaffold effectively reinforces the silver nanowire network, enhancing durability.
• The material's properties enable the fabrication of sophisticated, micrometer-scale circuit patterns for functional electronic skins.