Multifunctional nanofiber-based electronic skin with moisture-wicking, piezoelectric motion sensing and thermochromic...

Electronic skin (e-skin) faces challenges in achieving long-term signal stability and wearability due to the poor breathability, sweat accumulation, and limited sensitivity. This paper reports a multifunctional nanofibrous e-skin (PTZ-PPPB-PPT) fabricated via layer-by-layer electrospinning, integrating a hydrophobic layer (PVDF-TrFE/ZnO), a piezoelectric enhancement layer (PAN/PVP/PDA@BTO), and a thermochromic layer (PAN/PVP/TCM). Benefited from the asymmetric wettability and hierarchical fiber structure, the device enables unidirectional sweat transport (contact angle reduces from 132.8° to 0° within 5.72 s) while blocking reverse osmosis (hydrostatic resistance of 40 mmH₂O). When the piezoelectric sensor operates under excessive sweating conditions, the unidirectional sweat transport maintains skin surface dryness, thereby ensuring stable piezoelectric output during movement. Notably, the E-skin achieves a high output voltage (40 V at 30 N with a sensitivity of 0.825 V/N), exhibits rapid response/recovery (100/80 ms). It also demonstrates reversible thermochromism (25-40 °C) for real-time temperature visualization. Additionally, the device ensures superior comfort during prolonged wear by maintaining exceptional air permeability (8.05 mm/s) and outstanding mechanical flexibility (187.75 % elongation at break). This multifunctional integrated E-skin synergizes sweat management with temperature visualization, holding promising potential for applications in wearable healthcare, human-computer interaction, and dynamic environmental monitoring.