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Bioinspired Hierarchical Architecture with Water Transport Channels for Strong Adhesion at the Sweating Interface.
Jieliang Zhao1,2, Yu Xiang1, Heng Wang1
1School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, P. R. China.
Advanced Science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
|April 7, 2026
Summary
This study introduces a bioinspired patch that separates adhesion and liquid management for reliable epidermal electronics. It ensures sweat-immune sensing by enhancing adhesion and efficiently managing moisture for continuous monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Wearable Technology
Background:
- Epidermal electronics face reliability issues due to sweat accumulation, which compromises interfacial integrity and sensor accuracy.
- Existing solutions struggle to balance the conflicting demands of strong adhesion and effective liquid management for continuous skin-surface monitoring.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel composite membrane patch with a bioinspired hierarchical hydration architecture.
- To physically decouple adhesion and liquid management requirements for sweat-immune epidermal sensing.
- To enable robust and continuous monitoring of physiological signals and biomarkers during profuse sweating.
Main Methods:
- Developed a composite membrane patch incorporating bioinspired designs from tree frogs, bees, bird beaks, and pitcher plants.
- Engineered a hierarchical hydration architecture with self-regulating triphase liquid bridges for enhanced adhesion.
- Utilized hierarchical tapered microgrooves to generate Laplace pressure for directional liquid transport (up to 500 mm/s).
Main Results:
- Achieved enhanced adhesion through bioinspired liquid bridges, mimicking natural adhesive systems.
- Demonstrated efficient directional liquid transport, creating a dynamically balanced hydration environment at the skin interface.
- Attained a water vapor transmission rate 2.7-fold higher than commercial patches, ensuring device performance during heavy sweating.
Conclusions:
- The bioinspired hierarchical hydration architecture effectively addresses the limitations of current epidermal electronics.
- The developed patch enables reliable, continuous monitoring of electrophysiological signals and sweat biomarkers, even under extreme sweating conditions.
- This design principle provides a generalizable platform for creating robust, high-performance epidermal devices.
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