Soft electronics are rising electronic technologies towards applications spanning from healthcare monitoring to medical implants. However, poor adhesion strength and significant mechanical mismatches inevitably cause the interface failure of devices. Herein we report a self-adhesive conductive polymer that possesses low modulus (56.1-401.9 kPa), high stretchability (700%), high interfacial adhesion (lap-shear strength >1.2 MPa), and high conductivity (1-37 S/cm). The self-adhesive conductive polymer is fabricated by doping the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrene sulfonate) composite with a supramolecular solvent (β-cyclodextrin and citric acid). We demonstrated the solution process-based fabrication of self-adhesive conductive polymer-based electrodes for various soft devices, including alternating current electroluminescent devices, electromyography monitoring, and an integrated system for the visualization of electromyography signals during muscle training with an array of alternating current electroluminescent devices. The self-adhesive conductive polymer-based electronics show promising features to further develop wearable and comfortable bioelectronic devices with the physiological electric signals of the human body readable and displayable during daily activities.

Icing of water (moisture) at subzero temperatures with different length scales is harmful to a variety of applications spanning from large-scale aircraft to small camera lens. Existing strategies relying on controlling the surface structure and material are encumbered with shortcomings of short frost delay time, poor durability, and difficulty in large-scale production. Inspired from the mucus secretion of mollusks, we introduce organohydrogel dynamic interfaces that can perform dynamic and reversible exchange of the cryoprotectant and water at the interface, resulting in exceptional antifrosting, antiadhesion, and deicing properties with long-term durability. The replenishable coating shows superlubrication to the surface ice with a sliding angle up to 1.9 ± 0.4o and a frost delay time up to 970 ± 31 min in the presence of water spray (99% relative humidity) at subzero temperatures. The strategy offers a reliable and scalable solution to prevent engineering surfaces, i.e., aircraft, pavement, bridge, and other public facilities, from icing/frosting and ice adhesion, even under extreme cold environments.

Textile-based wearable electronics, integrating the functions of electronics into the daily textiles, offers a comfortable interaction between humans and electronic devices. Production of highly conductive and environmentally stable textiles is the precondition for the ultimate wearable electronic system. However, due to the complicated porous structure, it is still technically challenging to endow textiles with desirable conductivity and stability, especially in the case of stretchable fabrics. Herein, we report a facile but effective fabrication strategy combining the electroless deposition and electrodeposition techniques for the metallization of stretchable knitted fabrics. The electroless deposition process first introduces a thin metal layer and yields electrically conductive fabrics. The subsequent electrodeposited metals conformally coat on individual fibers of fabrics, which significantly improves the electrical conductivity, mechanical durability, and environmental stability of metallized textiles. Remarkably, the sheet resistance of metallized textiles reaches less than 0.02 Ω sq–1 and remains relatively stable under more than 400% tensile strain. More importantly, the metallized stretchable fabrics exhibit superior stability when monitored in varied environments for 30 days, further promoting their practical uses in wearable electronics. Finally, a wearable heater and a strain sensor are demonstrated to show potential applications of metallized textiles for personal healthcare and human motion monitoring.

Hybrid microgel-reinforced hydrogels with the size and modulus effect have the same toughening mechanism as the bulk double network hydrogels.

Artificial shape-morphing hydrogels are emerging toward various applications, spanning from electronic skins to healthcare. However, the low freezing and drying tolerance of hydrogels hinder their practical applications in challenging environments, such as subzero temperatures and arid conditions. Herein, we report on a shape-morphing system of tough organohydrogels enabled by the spatially encoded rigid structures and its applications in conformal packaging of “island–bridge” stretchable electronics. To validate this method, programmable shape morphing of Fe (III) ion-stiffened Ca-alginate/polyacrylamide (PAAm) tough organohydrogels down to −50 °C, with long-term preservation of their 3D shapes at arid or even vacuum conditions, was successfully demonstrated, respectively. To further illustrate the potency of this approach, the as-made organohydrogels were employed as a material for the conformal packaging of non-stretchable rigid electronic components and highly stretchable liquid metal (galinstan) conductors, forming a so-called “island–bridge” stretchable circuit. The conformal packaging well addresses the mechanical mismatch between components with different elastic moduli. As such, the as-made stretchable shape-morphing device exhibits a remarkably high mechanical durability that can withstand strains as high as 1000% and possesses long-term stability required for applications under challenging conditions.