DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Multiscale porous elastomer substrates for multifunctional on-skin electronics with passive-cooling capabilities

Abstract

In addition to mechanical compliance, achieving the full potential of on-skin electronics needs the introduction of other features. For example, substantial progress has been achieved in creating biodegradable, self-healing, or breathable, on-skin electronics. However, the research of making on-skin electronics with passive-cooling capabilities, which can reduce energy consumption and improve user comfort, is still rare. Herein, we report the development of multifunctional on-skin electronics, which can passively cool human bodies without needing any energy consumption. This property is inherited from multiscale porous polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS) supporting substrates. The multiscale pores of SEBS substrates, with characteristic sizes ranging from around 0.2 to 7 µm, can effectively backscatter sunlight to minimize heat absorption but are too small to reflect human-body midinfrared radiation to retain heat dissipation, thereby delivering around 6 °C cooling effects under a solar intensity of 840 W∙m-2. Other desired properties, rooted in multiscale porous SEBS substrates, include high breathability and outstanding waterproofing. The proof-of-concept bioelectronic devices include electrophysiological sensors, temperature sensors, hydration sensors, pressure sensors, and electrical stimulators, which are made via spray printing of silver nanowires on multiscale porous SEBS substrates. The devices show comparable electrical performances with conventional, rigid, nonporous ones. Also, their applications in cuffless blood pressuremore » measurement, interactive virtual reality, and human–machine interface are demonstrated. Notably, the enabled on-skin devices are dissolvable in several organic solvents and can be recycled to reduce electronic waste and manufacturing cost. Such on-skin electronics can serve as the basis for future multifunctional smart textiles with passive-cooling functionalities.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)
  2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States). Center for Nanoscale Materials
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1607393
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357; AF9550-18-1-0342
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 117; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of Sciences
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
42 ENGINEERING; breathability; multifunctional; on-skin electronics; passive cooling; recyclability; waterproof

Citation Formats

Xu, Yadong, Sun, Bohan, Ling, Yun, Fei, Qihui, Chen, Zanyu, Li, Xiaopeng, Guo, Peijun, Jeon, Nari, Goswami, Shivam, Liao, Yixuan, Ding, Shinghua, Yu, Qingsong, Lin, Jian, Huang, Guoliang, and Yan, Zheng. Multiscale porous elastomer substrates for multifunctional on-skin electronics with passive-cooling capabilities. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1917762116.
Xu, Yadong, Sun, Bohan, Ling, Yun, Fei, Qihui, Chen, Zanyu, Li, Xiaopeng, Guo, Peijun, Jeon, Nari, Goswami, Shivam, Liao, Yixuan, Ding, Shinghua, Yu, Qingsong, Lin, Jian, Huang, Guoliang, & Yan, Zheng. Multiscale porous elastomer substrates for multifunctional on-skin electronics with passive-cooling capabilities. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917762116
Xu, Yadong, Sun, Bohan, Ling, Yun, Fei, Qihui, Chen, Zanyu, Li, Xiaopeng, Guo, Peijun, Jeon, Nari, Goswami, Shivam, Liao, Yixuan, Ding, Shinghua, Yu, Qingsong, Lin, Jian, Huang, Guoliang, and Yan, Zheng. Mon . "Multiscale porous elastomer substrates for multifunctional on-skin electronics with passive-cooling capabilities". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917762116. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1607393.
@article{osti_1607393,
title = {Multiscale porous elastomer substrates for multifunctional on-skin electronics with passive-cooling capabilities},
author = {Xu, Yadong and Sun, Bohan and Ling, Yun and Fei, Qihui and Chen, Zanyu and Li, Xiaopeng and Guo, Peijun and Jeon, Nari and Goswami, Shivam and Liao, Yixuan and Ding, Shinghua and Yu, Qingsong and Lin, Jian and Huang, Guoliang and Yan, Zheng},
abstractNote = {In addition to mechanical compliance, achieving the full potential of on-skin electronics needs the introduction of other features. For example, substantial progress has been achieved in creating biodegradable, self-healing, or breathable, on-skin electronics. However, the research of making on-skin electronics with passive-cooling capabilities, which can reduce energy consumption and improve user comfort, is still rare. Herein, we report the development of multifunctional on-skin electronics, which can passively cool human bodies without needing any energy consumption. This property is inherited from multiscale porous polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS) supporting substrates. The multiscale pores of SEBS substrates, with characteristic sizes ranging from around 0.2 to 7 µm, can effectively backscatter sunlight to minimize heat absorption but are too small to reflect human-body midinfrared radiation to retain heat dissipation, thereby delivering around 6 °C cooling effects under a solar intensity of 840 W∙m-2. Other desired properties, rooted in multiscale porous SEBS substrates, include high breathability and outstanding waterproofing. The proof-of-concept bioelectronic devices include electrophysiological sensors, temperature sensors, hydration sensors, pressure sensors, and electrical stimulators, which are made via spray printing of silver nanowires on multiscale porous SEBS substrates. The devices show comparable electrical performances with conventional, rigid, nonporous ones. Also, their applications in cuffless blood pressure measurement, interactive virtual reality, and human–machine interface are demonstrated. Notably, the enabled on-skin devices are dissolvable in several organic solvents and can be recycled to reduce electronic waste and manufacturing cost. Such on-skin electronics can serve as the basis for future multifunctional smart textiles with passive-cooling functionalities.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1917762116},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 1,
volume = 117,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Dec 23 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Mon Dec 23 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 71 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Rubbery Electronics Fully Made of Stretchable Elastomeric Electronic Materials
journal, June 2019


Flexible Piezoresistive Sensor Patch Enabling Ultralow Power Cuffless Blood Pressure Measurement
journal, December 2015

  • Luo, Ningqi; Dai, Wenxuan; Li, Chenglin
  • Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 26, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201504560

Torsional refrigeration by twisted, coiled, and supercoiled fibers
journal, October 2019


Mechanically‐Guided Structural Designs in Stretchable Inorganic Electronics
journal, July 2019


Nanoporous polyethylene microfibres for large-scale radiative cooling fabric
journal, February 2018


Rubbery electronics and sensors from intrinsically stretchable elastomeric composites of semiconductors and conductors
journal, September 2017


Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis
journal, January 2016

  • Gao, Wei; Emaminejad, Sam; Nyein, Hnin Yin Yin
  • Nature, Vol. 529, Issue 7587
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature16521

Printable elastic conductors by in situ formation of silver nanoparticles from silver flakes
journal, May 2017

  • Matsuhisa, Naoji; Inoue, Daishi; Zalar, Peter
  • Nature Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1038/nmat4904

Binodal, wireless epidermal electronic systems with in-sensor analytics for neonatal intensive care
journal, February 2019


“Cut-and-Paste” Manufacture of Multiparametric Epidermal Sensor Systems
journal, September 2015

  • Yang, Shixuan; Chen, Ying-Chen; Nicolini, Luke
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 41
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201502386

Flexible Electronics toward Wearable Sensing
journal, February 2019


Pursuing prosthetic electronic skin
journal, July 2016

  • Chortos, Alex; Liu, Jia; Bao, Zhenan
  • Nature Materials, Vol. 15, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1038/nmat4671

Three-dimensional curvy electronics created using conformal additive stamp printing
journal, September 2019


All-printed thin-film transistors from networks of liquid-exfoliated nanosheets
journal, April 2017


Graphene Electronic Tattoo Sensors
journal, July 2017


Personal Thermal Management by Metallic Nanowire-Coated Textile
journal, December 2014

  • Hsu, Po-Chun; Liu, Xiaoge; Liu, Chong
  • Nano Letters, Vol. 15, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1021/nl5036572

Rehealable, fully recyclable, and malleable electronic skin enabled by dynamic covalent thermoset nanocomposite
journal, February 2018


Highly conductive, stretchable and biocompatible Ag–Au core–sheath nanowire composite for wearable and implantable bioelectronics
journal, August 2018


Relation between blood pressure and pulse wave velocity for human arteries
journal, October 2018

  • Ma, Yinji; Choi, Jungil; Hourlier-Fargette, Aurélie
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, Issue 44
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1814392115

Metal oxide semiconductor nanomembrane–based soft unnoticeable multifunctional electronics for wearable human-machine interfaces
journal, August 2019


Hierarchically porous polymer coatings for highly efficient passive daytime radiative cooling
journal, September 2018


Intrinsically stretchable and healable semiconducting polymer for organic transistors
journal, November 2016

  • Oh, Jin Young; Rondeau-Gagné, Simon; Chiu, Yu-Cheng
  • Nature, Vol. 539, Issue 7629
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature20102

Tactile Chemomechanical Transduction Based on an Elastic Microstructured Array to Enhance the Sensitivity of Portable Biosensors
journal, October 2018


Biocompatible and totally disintegrable semiconducting polymer for ultrathin and ultralightweight transient electronics
journal, May 2017

  • Lei, Ting; Guan, Ming; Liu, Jia
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 114, Issue 20
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1701478114

Skin electronics from scalable fabrication of an intrinsically stretchable transistor array
journal, February 2018


Highly Durable Nanofiber-Reinforced Elastic Conductors for Skin-Tight Electronic Textiles
journal, June 2019


Waterproof, electronics-enabled, epidermal microfluidic devices for sweat collection, biomarker analysis, and thermography in aquatic settings
journal, January 2019

  • Reeder, Jonathan T.; Choi, Jungil; Xue, Yeguang
  • Science Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau6356

Keeping cool: Enhanced optical reflection and radiative heat dissipation in Saharan silver ants
journal, June 2015


An autonomously electrically self-healing liquid metal–elastomer composite for robust soft-matter robotics and electronics
journal, May 2018


Bioinspired and bristled microparticles for ultrasensitive pressure and strain sensors
journal, December 2018


A radiative cooling structural material
journal, May 2019


Wearable sweat sensors
journal, March 2018


Inflammation-free, gas-permeable, lightweight, stretchable on-skin electronics with nanomeshes
journal, July 2017

  • Miyamoto, Akihito; Lee, Sungwon; Cooray, Nawalage Florence
  • Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 12, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2017.125

Epidermal Electronics
journal, August 2011


Gas‐Permeable, Multifunctional On‐Skin Electronics Based on Laser‐Induced Porous Graphene and Sugar‐Templated Elastomer Sponges
journal, August 2018

  • Sun, Bohan; McCay, Richard N.; Goswami, Shivam
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 50
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201804327

Bio-Integrated Wearable Systems: A Comprehensive Review
journal, January 2019


An electrically and mechanically self-healing composite with pressure- and flexion-sensitive properties for electronic skin applications
journal, November 2012

  • Tee, Benjamin C-K.; Wang, Chao; Allen, Ranulfo
  • Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 7, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2012.192

Plasticizing Silk Protein for On-Skin Stretchable Electrodes
journal, March 2018

  • Chen, Geng; Matsuhisa, Naoji; Liu, Zhiyuan
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 21
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201800129

Cuff-less and Noninvasive Measurements of Arterial Blood Pressure by Pulse Transit Time
conference, January 2005

  • Poon, C. C. Y.; Zhang, Y. T.
  • 2005 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 27th Annual Conference
  • DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2005.1615827

Toward a new generation of smart skins
journal, April 2019


The rise of plastic bioelectronics
journal, December 2016

  • Someya, Takao; Bao, Zhenan; Malliaras, George G.
  • Nature, Vol. 540, Issue 7633
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature21004

Micro/Nanoscale 3D Assembly by Rolling, Folding, Curving, and Buckling Approaches
journal, June 2019


Radiative human body cooling by nanoporous polyethylene textile
journal, September 2016


Wearable and Implantable Soft Bioelectronics Using Two-Dimensional Materials
journal, December 2018


Laser-induced porous graphene films from commercial polymers
journal, December 2014

  • Lin, Jian; Peng, Zhiwei; Liu, Yuanyue
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6714

An integrated self-healable electronic skin system fabricated via dynamic reconstruction of a nanostructured conducting network
journal, August 2018


Stretchable Heater Using Ligand-Exchanged Silver Nanowire Nanocomposite for Wearable Articular Thermotherapy
journal, May 2015


A Sensitive and Biodegradable Pressure Sensor Array for Cardiovascular Monitoring
journal, September 2015

  • Boutry, Clementine M.; Nguyen, Amanda; Lawal, Qudus Omotayo
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 43
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201502535

Electronic-skin compasses for geomagnetic field-driven artificial magnetoreception and interactive electronics
journal, November 2018

  • Cañón Bermúdez, Gilbert Santiago; Fuchs, Hagen; Bischoff, Lothar
  • Nature Electronics, Vol. 1, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1038/s41928-018-0161-6

Progress Report on Phase Separation in Polymer Solutions
journal, March 2019

  • Wang, Fei; Altschuh, Patrick; Ratke, Lorenz
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 31, Issue 26
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201806733

Wearable thermoelectrics for personalized thermoregulation
journal, May 2019


Keeping cool: Enhanced optical reflection and radiative heat dissipation in Saharan silver ants
text, January 2015

  • Shi, N. N.; Tsai, C-C; Camino, F.
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • DOI: 10.5167/uzh-134354

Progress Report on Phase Separation in Polymer Solutions
text, January 2019