Smart Skins Based on Assembled Piezoresistive Networks of Sustainable Graphene Microcapsules for High Precision Health Diagnostics

Adel K. A. Aljarid, Ming Dong, Yi Hu, Cencen Wei, Jonathan P. Salvage, Dimitrios G. Papageorgiou, Conor S. Boland

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The environmental impact of plastic waste has had a profound effect on our livelihoods and there is a need for future plastic‐based epidermal electronics to trend toward more sustainable approaches. Infusing graphene into the culinary process of seaweed spherification produces core‐shell, food‐based nanocomposites with properties exhibiting a remarkably high degree of tunability. Unusually, mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical metrics all became decoupled from one another, allowing for each to be individually tuned. This leads to the formation of a general electromechanical model which presents a universal electronic blueprint for enhanced performances. Through this model, performance optimization and system miniaturization are enabled, with gauge factors (G) >108 for capsule diameters (D) ≈290 µm and produced at a record rate of >100 samples per second. When coalesced into quasi‐2D planar networks, microcapsules form the basis of discrete, recyclable electronic smart skins with areal independent sensitives for muscular, breathing, pulse, and blood pressure measurements in real‐time.
Original languageEnglish
Article number2303837
Number of pages13
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
Volume33
Issue number41
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
A.K.A.A., C.W., and C.S.B. acknowledge funding from the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau and the University of Sussex Strategic Development Fund. M.D., Y.H., and D.G.P. acknowledge funding support from “Graphene Core 3” GA: 881603 implemented under the EU‐Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation Actions (RIA) and supported by EC‐financed parts of the Graphene Flagship. D.G.P. also acknowledges support from The Royal Society through RGS∖R2∖212410.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Functional Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Keywords

  • electromechanics models
  • nanocomposites
  • health sensing
  • piezoresistive
  • graphene
  • electronic skins

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Smart Skins Based on Assembled Piezoresistive Networks of Sustainable Graphene Microcapsules for High Precision Health Diagnostics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this