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Biocompatible liquid metal coated stretchable electrospinning film for strain sensors monitoring system

生物相容性液态金属涂层可拉伸静电纺丝膜用于压力传感监控系统

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Abstract

Liquid metals (LMs) are potential inorganic materials which could be applied in flexible and deformable electronics owing to their fluidity, low viscosity, high metallic conductivity, and low toxicity. However, recently reported sensing devices based on LMs required complex processes with high cost. Herein, a flexible three-dimensional (3D) conductive network was prepared by coating LM droplets onto an electrospun thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fiber film. The LM is suspended between the TPU fibers and self-coalesces into a vertically buckled and laterally mesh-like structure, which provides good biocompatibility, conductivity, and stretchability simultaneously. The LM-TPU composite-film-based flexible device demonstrates a multitude of desired features, such as a widely workable stretching range (0%–200%), sufficient sensitivity under stretching strain (gauge factor (GF) of 0.2 at 200% strain), and outstanding stability and durability (9000 cycles). In vitro biocompatibility experiments show that the LM-TPU composite film directly attached to the skin has excellent biocompatibility. Such strain sensor-based integrated monitoring systems could monitor human body motions in real time, such as muscle movement and joint motion, revealing application prospects in healthcare and human-machine interfacing.

摘要

液态金属(LMs)是一种功能强大的无机材料, 由于其良好的流动性、 低粘度、 较高的金属导电性和低毒性, 在柔性和可变形电子产品中有着广阔的应用前景. 然而, 最近报道的基于LMs的传感设备需要复杂的工艺和高昂的制造成本. 本工作通过在电纺热塑性聚氨酯(TPU)纤维膜上涂覆LM液滴, 制备了柔性3D导电网络. LM悬浮在TPU纤维之间, 并自聚结成垂直弯曲和横向网状结构, 同时提供良好的生物相容性、 导电性和可拉伸性. 基于LM-TPU复合薄膜的柔性装置表现出优异的特性: 可广泛使用的拉伸范围(0%–200%)、 拉伸应变下足够的灵敏度(200%应变下的标准系数(GF)为0.2), 以及出色的稳定性和耐久性(9000次循环). 体外生物相容性实验表明, 直接附着在皮肤上的LM-TPU复合膜具有良好的生物相容性. 这种基于应变传感器的集成监控系统适用于实时监控人体运动, 如肌肉运动和关节运动, 在医疗保健和人机接口方面具有应用前景.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61625404, 61888102, and 62174152), and Foshan Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research Team Program (2018IT100031).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang, 050018, China

    Xiaofeng Wang  (王晓峰), Bao Shi  (石宝) & Aibing Chen  (陈爱兵)

  2. State Key Laboratory for Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronic Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Xiaofeng Wang  (王晓峰), Jiang Liu  (刘江), Yiqiang Zheng  (郑贻强), Bao Shi  (石宝), Lili Wang  (王丽丽) & Guozhen Shen  (沈国震)

  3. School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Guozhen Shen  (沈国震)

Authors
  1. Xiaofeng Wang  (王晓峰)
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  2. Jiang Liu  (刘江)
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  3. Yiqiang Zheng  (郑贻强)
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  4. Bao Shi  (石宝)
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  5. Aibing Chen  (陈爱兵)
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  6. Lili Wang  (王丽丽)
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  7. Guozhen Shen  (沈国震)
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Contributions

Author contributions Wang L, Chen A and Shen G conceived and designed the experiments. Wang L directed the entire project. Wang X and Zheng Y carried out the experiments and analyzed the data. Liu J and Shi B designed and made the circuit part. Wang X and Wang L wrote the manuscript. All authors have given approval to the final version of the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Aibing Chen  (陈爱兵), Lili Wang  (王丽丽) or Guozhen Shen  (沈国震).

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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary information Supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.

Xiaofeng Wang received his BSc degree (2020) from Hebei University of Science and Technology. His current scientific interests focus on the flexible sensing devices for physical health monitoring and intelligent drug delivery.

Aibing Chen received his PhD degree in 2007 from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China). From 2013, he is a full professor at Hebei University of Science and Technology (China). His scientific interests include porous carbon and related materials, with the applications in catalysis, depollution, energy, CO2 capture and CO2 catalytic conversion.

Lili Wang is a professor at the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. She earned her BSc degree (2010) in chemistry and PhD degree (2014) in microelectronics and solid state electronics from Jilin University. Her current research interests focus on the flexible electronics based on biological materials, 2D materials and semiconductors, including pressure sensors, electronic-skin, biosensor, photodetectors and flexible energy storage and conversion devices.

Guozhen Shen received his PhD degree (2003) in chemistry from the University of Science and technology of China. From 2004 to 2009, he conducted his research in Korea, Japan and USA. Before joining Beijing Institute of Technology, he worked at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences as a professor. Now, he is a professor and leader of the Research Center of Flexible Electronic Devices and Intelligent Manufacturing, Beijing Institute of Technology. His current research focuses on flexible electronics and printable electronics, including transistors, photodetectors, sensors and flexible energy storage and conversion devices.

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Wang, X., Liu, J., Zheng, Y. et al. Biocompatible liquid metal coated stretchable electrospinning film for strain sensors monitoring system. Sci. China Mater. 65, 2235–2243 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2081-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2081-0

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