Roadmap of Flexible Electrodes for Next-Generation Wearable Electronics

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Flexible electronics are increasingly integrated into daily life due to their lightweight, flexibility, and scalability.
• Flexible electrodes are essential components driving progress in wearable and implantable devices for energy storage, sensing, and health monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the evolution of flexible electrode materials over the last decade.
• To discuss advances in flexible electrolytes and their applications.
• To analyze challenges and future prospects for flexible electrode systems.

Main Methods:

• Literature review focusing on carbon-based systems, transition metal compounds, MXenes, conductive polymers, and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
• Discussion of aqueous, nonaqueous, ionic, and redox gel flexible electrolyte systems.
• Analysis of material advantages, fabrication challenges, and integration hurdles.

Main Results:

• Key flexible electrode materials include carbon-based systems, transition metal compounds, MXenes, conductive polymers, and MOFs.
• Significant progress has been made in flexible electrolytes, including aqueous, nonaqueous, ionic, and redox gel systems.
• Applications are expanding into health monitoring, robotics, and plant wearables.

Conclusions:

• Flexible electrodes are vital for the advancement of smart innovations and integrated electronics.
• Overcoming fabrication and integration challenges is key to realizing scalable, biocompatible, and multifunctional electrode systems.
• Future research should focus on developing next-generation flexible electrodes for diverse applications.