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Textile-based electronics have attracted much attention as they can perfectly combine the functionality of wearable devices with the soft and comfortable properties of flexible textile fibers. In this work, we report a dynamically stretchable high-performance supercapacitor for powering an integrated sensor in an all-in-one textile system to detect various biosignals. The supercapacitor fabricated with MWCNT/MoO

With the rapidly growing interest and usage in wearable electronics, considerable attention has been paid to the environmental concern caused by electronic waste and the toxicity of constituent materials. In this study, we report the facile fabrication of a fully biodegradable and stretchable serpentine-shaped wire supercapacitor by using a water-soluble molybdenum (Mo) wire, polyvinyl-alcohol-based biodegradable gel polymer electrolyte, and biodegradable elastomer—poly(1,8-octanediol-co-citrate) (POC). A thin oxide layer grown on a Mo wire via simple anodization drastically improves the electrochemical capacitance by inducing pseudocapacitance. As a result, the fabricated supercapacitor exhibits areal capacitance of 4.15 mF cm−2 at 0.05 mA cm−2, energy density of 0.37 µWh cm−2, and power density of 0.8 mW cm−2. The design of the serpentine-shaped wire supercapacitor encapsulated with POC gives mechanical and electrochemical stability against deformations of repetitive stretching. The biodegradable property of the supercapacitor is confirmed by the measurements of the change in mass of its constituent materials with elapsed time in water. Furthermore, the transient electrochemical performance of the fabricated wire supercapacitor in water over a certain period of time is observed to depend on the encapsulation.

We report the fabrication of a stretchable array of active-matrix (AM) electrochromic devices (ECDs). The ECD is made of poly(3-methylthiophene) and Prussian blue electrodes with a mixed gel electrolyte of acetonitrile, poly(methyl methacrylate), propylene carbonate, and lithium perchlorate. The ECD displays can express red, green, or blue (RGB) depending on the applied voltage and has a high stability in air. It exhibits low power consumption levels of 331 and 378 μW cm−2 (10 s duration) at −1.0 and 1.0 V, respectively, and a high coloration efficiency of 201.6 cm2 C−1 at 1.0 V. A 4 × 4 AM ECD array is integrated on a deformable Ecoflex substrate via a dry transfer method using patterned liquid metal interconnections. The display shows a mechanical stability under bending and biaxial stretching by 30%. Finite element method analysis of the strain distribution also confirms that strain is not applied to the ECDs, guaranteeing stable operation of the array under deformation. Furthermore, a stretchable 6 × 6 AM ECD array for higher resolution display also exhibits mechanical stability under 30% biaxial stretching. This work demonstrates the high potential of our stretchable ECD array in low power-consuming displays for stretchable electronics, wearable devices, and electronic skin.

Stretchable energy storage devices are of great interest because of their potential applications in body-friendly, skin-like, wearable devices. However, stretchable batteries are very challenging to fabricate. The electrodes must have a degree of stretchability because the active materials occupy most of the volume, and the separator and packaging should also be stretchable. Here, an all-component stretchable lithium-ion battery was realized by leveraging the structural stretchability of re-entrant micro-honeycomb graphene-carbon nanotube (CNT)/active material composite electrodes and a physically cross-linked gel electrolyte, without using an inactive elastomeric substrate or matrix. Active materials interconnected via the entangled CNT and graphene sheets provided a mechanically stable porous network framework, and the inwardly protruding framework in the re-entrant honeycomb structure allowed for structural stretching during deformation. The composite network consisting solely of binder-free, highly conductive materials provided superior electron transfer, and vertically aligned microchannels enabled facile ion transport. Additionally, the physically cross-linked gel electrolyte increased the mechanical stability upon deformation of the electrodes and was effective as a stretchable separator. The resulting stretchable battery showed a high areal capacity of 5.05 mAh·cm-2, superior electrochemical performance up to 50% strain under repeated (up to 500) stretch-release cycles, and long-term stability of 95.7% after 100 cycles in air conditions.

A highly-durable, highly-flexible transparent electrode (FTE) is developed by applying a composite made of a thin metal grid and a doped conducting polymer onto a colorless polyimide-coated NOA63 substrate. The proposed FTE exhibits a transparency of 90.7% at 550 nm including the substrate and a sheet resistance of 30.3 Ω/sq and can withstand both moderately high-temperature annealing (∼180 °C) and acidic solution (70 °C, pH 0.3) processes without performance degradation. The fabricated FTE yielded good mechanical stability under 10 000 cycles of bending deformations at a bending radius less than 1 mm without degradation of electrical conductivity. The high durability of the proposed FTE allows for the fabrication of flexible energy harvesting devices requiring harsh conditions, such as highly flexible perovskite solar cells (FPSCs) with a steady-state power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.7%. Notably, 93% of the original PCE is maintained after 2000 bending cycles at an extremely small bending radius of 1.5 mm. The FPSCs installed on curved surfaces of commercial devices drive them under various environments. The applicability of the proposed FTE is further confirmed via the fabrication of a flexible perovskite light-emitting diode. The proposed FTE demonstrates great potential for applications in the field of flexible optoelectronic devices.

As part of increased efforts to develop wearable healthcare devices for monitoring and managing physiological and metabolic information, stretchable electrochemical sweat sensors have been investigated. In this study, we report on the fabrication of a stretchable and skin-attachable electrochemical sensor for detecting glucose and pH in sweat. A patterned stretchable electrode was fabricated via layer-by-layer deposition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on top of patterned Au nanosheets (AuNS) prepared by filtration onto stretchable substrate. For the detection of glucose and pH, CoWO4/CNT and polyaniline/CNT nanocomposites were coated onto the CNT–AuNS electrodes, respectively. A reference electrode was prepared via chlorination of silver nanowires. Encapsulation of the stretchable sensor with sticky silbione led to a skin-attachable sweat sensor. Our sensor showed high performance with sensitivities of 10.89 μA mM–1 cm–2 and 71.44 mV pH–1 for glucose and pH, respectively, with mechanical stability up to 30% s...

In this report, high sensitivity pressure and temperature sensors are demonstrated based on a single common active material of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT)-coated elastic carbon foam (ECF) for bio-signal monitoring. A conductive microporous elastic foam is obtained via direct carbonization of a commercially available melamine foam at 700 °C and a subsequent dip coating with P3HT. The design incorporating interdigitated electrodes on the bottom of the P3HT-coated ECF is used to fabricate a high-performance pressure sensor with a high pressure sensitivity of 102.4 kPa−1 (

With the miniaturization of personal wearable electronics, considerable effort has been expended to develop high-performance flexible/stretchable energy storage devices for powering integrated active devices. Supercapacitors can fulfill this role owing to their simple structures, high power density, and cyclic stability. Moreover, a high electrochemical performance can be achieved with flexible/stretchable supercapacitors, whose applications can be expanded through the introduction of additional novel functionalities. Here, recent advances in and future prospects for flexible/stretchable supercapacitors with innate functionalities are covered, including biodegradability, self-healing, shape memory, energy harvesting, and electrochromic and temperature tolerance, which can contribute to reducing e-waste, ensuring device integrity and performance, enabling device self-charging following exposure to surrounding stimuli, displaying the charge status, and maintaining the performance under a wide range of temperatures. Finally, the challenges and perspectives of high-performance all-in-one wearable systems with integrated functional supercapacitors for future practical application are discussed.

Here, we report on a highly conductive, stretchable, and transparent electrode of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) fabricated via modification with triblock copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)–block–poly(propylene glycol)–block–poly(ethylene glycol) (PEO20–PPO70–PEO20, Pluronic P123), and post-treatment with sulfuric acid. The fabricated electrode exhibits high transparency (89%), high electrical conductivity (∼1700 S/cm), and minimal change in resistance (∼4%) under repetitive stretch–release cycles at 40% tensile strain after stabilization. P123 acts as a secondary dopant and plasticizer, resulting in enhanced electrical conductivity and stretchability of PEDOT:PSS. Furthermore, after sulfuric acid post-treatment, P123 helps the electrode to maintain its stretchability. A successful demonstration of the stretchable interconnection was shown by stretching the P123-modified PEDOT:PSS electrodes, which were connected with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in series. Finally, a st...

A wire-shaped supercapacitor (WSS) has structural advantages of high flexibility and ease of incorporation into conventional textile substrates. In this work, we report a thin reproducible WSS fabricated via layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), combined with an organic electrolyte of propylene carbonate (PC)–acetonitrile (ACN)–lithium perchlorate (LiClO4)–poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) that extends the voltage window to 1.6 V. The MWCNTs were uniformly deposited on a curved surface of a thin Au wire using an LbL assembly technique, resulting in linearly increased areal capacitance of the fabricated WSS. Vanadium oxide was coated on the LbL-assembled MWCNT electrode to induce pseudocapacitance, hence enhancing the overall capacitance of the fabricated WSS. Both the cyclic stability of the WSS and the viscosity of the electrolyte could be optimized by controlling the mixing ratio of PC to ACN. As a result, the fabricated WSS exhibits an areal capacitance of 5.23 mF cm–2 ...

In this study, we demonstrate the fabrication of a highly sensitive flexible temperature sensor with a bioinspired octopus-mimicking adhesive. A resistor-type temperature sensor consisting of a composite of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM)-temperature sensitive hydrogel, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate, and carbon nanotubes exhibits a very high thermal sensitivity of 2.6%·°C–1 between 25 and 40 °C so that the change in skin temperature of 0.5 °C can be accurately detected. At the same time, the polydimethylsiloxane adhesive layer of octopus-mimicking rim structure coated with pNIPAM is fabricated through the formation of a single mold by utilizing undercut phenomenon in photolithography. The fabricated sensor shows stable and reproducible detection of skin temperature under repeated attachment/detachment cycles onto skin without any skin irritation for a long time. This work suggests a high potential application of our skin-attachable temperature sensor to wearable devices for m...

We report on the fabrication of a stretchable patterned graphene gas sensor driven by integrated micro-supercapacitor (MSC) array on the same deformable substrate. The integrated MSCs consist of polyaniline-wrapped multi-walled carbon nanotube electrodes and an ionogel electrolyte of poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumbis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide. The deformable soft Ecoflex substrate was designed to suppress the applied strain on the gas sensor and MSCs via insertion of stiff platforms of SU-8 underneath and serpentine electrical interconnections of polymer-encapsulated long and narrow Au thin film. The fabricated MSC array demonstrated stable electrochemical performance under a uniaxial strain of 50% and a biaxial strain of 40%, maintaining its initial characteristics even after 1000 cycles of repetitive uniaxial and biaxial stretching. Furthermore, the patterned-graphene sensor detected NO 2 gas for longer than 50 min via integration with MSCs using the serpentine interconnections even under uniaxial stretching by 50%. This work suggests fundamental progress towards the development of stretchable environmental sensor system which can be driven by integrated energy storage devices without external long wire connections to power source.

A stretchable polyaniline nanofiber temperature sensor array with an active matrix consisting of single-walled carbon nanotube thin-film transistors is demonstrated. The integrated temperature sensor array gives mechanical stability under biaxial stretching of 30%, and the resultant spatial temperature mapping does not show any mechanical or electrical degradation.

In this study, we report on the development of a stretchable, transparent, and skin-attachable strain sensor integrated with a flexible electrochromic device as a human skin-inspired interactive color-changing system. The strain sensor consists of a spin-coated conductive nanocomposite film of poly(vinyl alcohol)/multi-walled carbon nanotube/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate. The sensor exhibits excellent performance of high sensitivity, high durability, fast response, and high transparency. An electrochromic device (ECD) made of electrochemically synthesized polyaniline nanofibers and V2O5 on an indium-tin-oxide-coated polyethylene terephthalate film experiences a change in color from yellow to dark blue on application of voltage. The strain sensor and ECD are integrated on skin via an Arduino circuit for an interactive color change with the variation of the applied strain, which enables a real-time visual display of body motion. This integrated system demonstrates high potential for use in interactive wearable devices, military applications, and smart robots.

Body-attachable sensors can be applied to electronic skin (e-skin) as well as safety forewarning and health monitoring systems. However, achieving facile fabrication of high-performance, cost-effective sensors with mechanical stability in response to deformation due to body movement is challenging. Herein we report the material design, fabrication and characteristics of a skin-like stretchable array of multi-functional (MF) sensors based on a single sensing material of polyurethane foam coated with multi-walled carbon nanotube/polyaniline nanocomposite, which enables simultaneous detection of body temperature, wrist pulse and ammonia gas. These sensors exhibit high sensitivity, fast response and excellent durability. Furthermore, the fabricated sensor array shows stable performance under biaxial stretching up to 50% and attachment to skin owing to the use of direct-printed Galinstan liquid metal interconnections. This work proposes a facile method for fabrication of high-performance, stretchable MF sensors via appropriate selection of sensor design and functional materials that are applicable to e-skin and health monitoring systems. Combining stretchy foams with conductive nanomaterials enables real-time temperature, pulse, and gas exposure sensing from a patient's skin. Interactive ‘e-skin’ devices need to resolve different stimuli into clear electronic signals while attached to a deformable substrate. To satisfy these challenging constraints, Jeong Sook Ha and colleagues at Korea University coated polyurethane foams with a nanocomposite made from multiwalled carbon nanotubes and polyaniline. The porous microstructure of this hybrid material imparted mechanical flexibility and high responsiveness to electrical resistance changes and output voltage induced by pressure and heat variations, respectively, while the polyaniline component made it selective to toxic ammonia gas. A prototype device in which the foam is sandwiched between thin-film electrodes and which uses an adhesive gel to attach to the skin showed a rapid response and an excellent durability when attached to the fingertips and the wrist. A skin-like stretchable multi-functional sensor array based on a combination of PU foam and MWCNT-PANI nanocomposite is demonstrated to simultaneously detect pressure, temperature and ammonia gas with high sensitivity. The integrated sensor array with printed liquid metal interconnections operates stably under applied strain due to its attachment to the skin and under a biaxial strain up to 50%.

This paper introduces a liquid-metal integrated system that combines soft electronics materials and engineering designs with advanced near-field-communication (NFC) functionality for human motion sensing. All of the active components, that is, strain sensor, antenna and interconnections, in this device are made of liquid metal, and the device has unique gel-like characteristics and stretchability. Patterning procedures based on selective wetting properties of the reduced GaInSn enable a skin-attachable, miniaturized layout, in which the diameter of the device is less than 2 cm. Electromechanical characterization of the strain sensor and antenna reveals their behaviors under large uniaxial tensile and compressive strains, as well as more complex modes of deformation. Demonstrations of these devices involve their use in monitoring various human motions in a purely wireless fashion; examples include wrist flexion, movements of the vocal cord and finger motion. This simple platform has potential for use in human–machine interfaces for prosthetic control and other applications. A battery-free sensor that wirelessly transmits data while attached to skin relies on unique liquid-gallium materials for its success. Unlike liquid mercury, gallium is safe to handle in ambient conditions and hence is suitable for use in devices that seek to conform to the soft contours of the human body while remaining conductive. Jeong Sook Ha from Korea University and colleagues designed special patterns in polydimethylsiloxane films to create a liquid-metal strain sensor with a built-in antenna. By removing an outer oxide crust that adheres to nearly any surface, the team solved problems associated with patterning difficult-to-treat bare liquid metals. They demonstrated that changes in resistance from the gel-like sensor could accurately measure wrist motion, vocal cord movement associated with speech and the condition of finger joints. A gallium-based liquid metal integrated system that combines soft electronics materials and engineering designs with advanced near-field-communication (NFC) functionality is reported. Electro-mechanical characterization of the device reveals their behaviors under large uniaxial tensile and compressive strains, as well as more complex modes of deformation. Demonstrations of these devices involve their use in monitoring of various human motions in a purely wireless fashion.

A foldable array of patterned graphene/ZnO nanoparticle UV sensor and asymmetric micro-supercapacitors (AMSCs) integrated on a paper substrate with patterned liquid metal interconnections is reported. The resistor type UV sensor based on graphene/ZnO nanoparticles is patterned to be driven by the stored energy of the integrated AMSCs. The AMSC consists of MnO2 nanoball deposited multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and V2O5 wrapped MWNTs as positive and negative electrodes, respectively. As an electrolyte, propylene carbonate-poly(methyl methacrylate)-LiClO4, an organic solvent-based gel, is used. The UV sensor and AMSCs can be easily integrated on a liquid metal, Galinstan, patterned, waterproof mineral paper and show a mechanically stable UV sensing, regardless of repetitive folding cycles. This work demonstrates a novel foldable nanomaterial based sensor system driven by integrated energy storage devices, applicable to future wearable and portable electronics.