Collagen-Based Flexible Electronic Devices for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Sensing

The development of high-performance and low-cost, flexible electronic devices is a crucial prerequisite for emerging applications of energy storage, conversion, and sensing system. Collagen as the most abundant structural protein in mammals, owing to the unique amino acid composition and hierarchical structure, the conversion of collagen into collagen-derived carbon materials with different nanostructures and abundant ideal heteroatom doping through the carbonization method is expected to be a promising candidate material for electrodes of energy storage devices. The excellent mechanical flexibility of collagen and the abundant functional groups on its molecular chain that are easy to modify provide the possibility to be used as a separator material. On this basis, the ideal biocompatibility and degradability provide unique conditions for it to match the flexible substrate material of the human body for wearable electronic skin. In this review, the unique characteristics and advantages of collagen for electronic devices are first summarized. Recent progress in designing and constructing collagen-based electronic devices for future applications of electrochemical energy storage and sensing are reviewed. Finally, the challenges and prospects for collagen-based flexible electronic devices are discussed.