Recent Progress of Biomaterials-Based Epidermal Electronics for Healthcare Monitoring and Human–Machine Interaction

Abstract

Epidermal electronics offer an important platform for various on-skin applications including electrophysiological signals monitoring and human–machine interactions (HMI), due to their unique advantages of intrinsic softness and conformal interfaces with skin. The widely used nondegradable synthetic materials may produce massive electronic waste to the ecosystem and bring safety issues to human skin. However, biomaterials extracted from nature are promising to act as a substitute material for the construction of epidermal electronics, owing to their diverse characteristics of biocompatibility, biodegradability, sustainability, low cost and natural abundance. Therefore, the development of natural biomaterials holds great prospects for advancement of high-performance sustainable epidermal electronics. Here, we review the recent development on different types of biomaterials including proteins and polysaccharides for multifunctional epidermal electronics. Subsequently, the applications of biomaterials-based epidermal electronics in electrophysiological monitoring and HMI are discussed, respectively. Finally, the development situation and future prospects of biomaterials-based epidermal electronics are summarized. We expect that this review can provide some inspirations for the development of future, sustainable, biomaterials-based epidermal electronics.

The latest research progress of conductive hydrogels in the field of electrophysiological signal acquisition

“…168 ECG signals are mainly used for the early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and are one of the most important diagnostic tools in modern medicine. 169–171 However, in the early stage of CVD, the frequency of abnormal ECG signals is low, and traditional short-term ECG monitoring techniques cannot effectively detect these abnormal signals. 172 Therefore, to accurately detect these abnormal signals, the electrodes used for ECG signal acquisition need to be adhered to the human body surface for a long period of time.…”

Advancements in MXene-based composites for electronic skins

“…However, many existing wearable devices lack customization options to match sensor characteristics with specific deformation ranges of joints and muscles, leading to suboptimal performance. 96 To address this issue, it is crucial to design wearable strain sensors that can achieve userdefined working windows without compromising sensitivity, while also enabling real-time data processing. 87,97 In one study, an innovative tactic was introduced to create sensors for targeted detections by utilizing nanocrystal titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) via the surface oxidation of MXenes (Ti 3 C 2 T x ).…”

Ionic hydrogels-based triboelectric nanogenerators for self-powered human–machine interfaces

“…Compared to synthetic polymer materials, natural polymer materials have emerged as one of candidates for the preparation of ion hydrogels due to their unique advantages [95]. Typically, natural polymer materials refer to those extracted from various organisms, including microorganisms, animals, and plants [114]. For the fabrication of self-powered human-machine interactive electronic skins, natural polymer materials with properties such as biodegradability, ease of access, environmental friendliness, excellent biocompatibility, and low cost have gained increasing research attention in recent years [80,115].…”