Multipurpose and Reusable Ultrathin Electronic Tattoos Based on PtSe₂ and PtTe₂

Wearable bioelectronics with emphasis on the research and development of advanced person-oriented biomedical devices have attracted immense interest in the past decade. Scientists and clinicians find it essential to utilize skin-worn smart tattoos for on-demand and ambulatory monitoring of an individual's vital signs. Here, we report on the development of ultrathin platinum-based two-dimensional dichalcogenide (Pt-TMDs)-based electronic tattoos as advanced building blocks of future wearable bioelectronics. We made these ultrathin electronic tattoos out of large-scale synthesized platinum diselenide (PtSe₂) and platinum ditelluride (PtTe₂) layered materials and used them for monitoring human physiological vital signs, such as the electrical activity of the heart and the brain, muscle contractions, eye movements, and temperature. We show that both materials can be used for these applications; yet, PtTe₂ was found to be the most suitable choice due to its metallic structure. In terms of sheet resistance, skin contact, and electrochemical impedance, PtTe₂ outperforms state-of-the-art gold and graphene electronic tattoos and performs on par with medical-grade Ag/AgCl gel electrodes. The PtTe₂ tattoos show 4 times lower impedance and almost 100 times lower sheet resistance compared to monolayer graphene tattoos. One of the possible prompt implications of this work is perhaps in the development of advanced human-machine interfaces. To display the application, we built a multi-tattoo system that can easily distinguish eye movement and identify the direction of an individual's sight.