Recent advances in electronic skins: material progress and applications

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Electronic skins are vital for health monitoring and personalized medicine.
• High-performance electronic skins require soft interfacing with biological tissues for safe, long-term use.
• Key material properties include stretchability, self-healing, and biocompatibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advances in mechanically active materials and structural designs for electronic skins.
• To compare biological skin characteristics with artificial electronic skins.
• To assess challenges and opportunities in electronic skin development for biomedical applications.

Main Methods:

• Review of structural and biomechanical characteristics of biological and artificial skins.
• Survey of processing techniques for stretchable materials (geometric engineering, intrinsic stretchability).
• Critical assessment and comparison of self-healing materials and their applications in electronic skins.

Main Results:

• Recent advances in mechanically active materials and structural designs have enabled successful electronic skin applications.
• Various processing techniques enhance material stretchability.
• Different self-healing materials show promise for electronic skin integration.

Conclusions:

• Stretchability, self-healing, and biocompatibility are critical for electronic skin advancement in biomedical engineering.
• Further research is needed to address remaining challenges in materials and biomedical applications.
• Future opportunities lie in developing novel materials and integrated systems for enhanced health monitoring.