Controllable Electrode Printing on Porous Hydrophobic Flexible Substrate for Breathable Electronics

This work presents a controllable electrode printing technique on breathable substrates, i.e., electrospun polyimide, which are typically porous and hydrophobic yet promising for epidermal electronics. The process involves chemically modifying porous PI substrate by grafting amino-terminated organosilanes onto the surface, thereby improving both adhesion and wettability. Enhanced adhesion ensures a robust connection between the electrode and substrate, while improved wettability prevents fracture formation during printing. Simultaneously, precise control of substrate temperature during printing optimizes the diffusion of conductive inks and surface roughness, facilitating the shape-controllable manufacturing of electrodes. The proposed technique addresses the processing incompatibility between conventional planar microelectronics and porous substrates, enabling the development of breathable devices with stable electrical performance.