High Performance Conductive Composites and E-skins with Large-scale Manufacturing for Wearable Electronic Sensor Systems

Objective: High performance wearable sensors for biological and bio-technological recognition of human epidermal movements and muscle tissue deformations are attracting widespread attention and demonstrate fascinating potential for future wearable electronics. Methods: This work demonstrates conductive networks and film cracks-based stretchable strain sensors using carbonic sensing layers / mold star silicone elastomer nanocomposites. Results: The as-fabricated stretchable strain sensors demonstrate captivating superiority, including simplicity in the fabrication steps and ultra-high strain sensitivity far exceeding recently reported state-of-the-art strain sensors. Prominently, the stretchable strain sensors exhibit dazzling piezoresistivity with a high gauge factor of 2,185 and a wide sensing range of 30% strain. The working mechanism depends on the electrical resistance variations, which is strikingly altered by a percolating network crack surface microstructure due to strain concentration during tensile deformations. The ultra-sensitive sensing performance in conjunction with a wide sensing range, prominent linearity (R2>0.99 in the strain range of 15-30%), excellent reversibility characteristics and remarkable durability (more than 1,300 stretch-release cycles under a large-scale strain of 30%) for large-scale tensile deformations. Conclusion: The stretchable strain sensors to be employed as wearable strain monitoring devices for the diverse-range of practical applications, including but not confined to multi-scale monitoring, electronic skins, smart robotics, human-machine / computer interfaces, as well as sports performance monitoring.