Heterogeneous integration of rigid, soft, and liquid materials for self-healable, recyclable, and reconfigurable wearable electronics

Chuanqian Shi; Zhanan Zou; Zepeng Lei; Pengcheng Zhu; Wei Zhang; Jianliang Xiao

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abd0202

Heterogeneous integration of rigid, soft, and liquid materials for self-healable, recyclable, and reconfigurable wearable electronics

Sci Adv. 2020 Nov 6;6(45):eabd0202. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd0202. Print 2020 Nov.

Authors

Chuanqian Shi^{1

2}, Zhanan Zou², Zepeng Lei³, Pengcheng Zhu^{2

4}, Wei Zhang⁵, Jianliang Xiao⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. jianliang.xiao@colorado.edu wei.zhang@colorado.edu.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. jianliang.xiao@colorado.edu wei.zhang@colorado.edu.

Abstract

Wearable electronics can be integrated with the human body for monitoring physical activities and health conditions, for human-computer interfaces, and for virtual/augmented reality. We here report a multifunctional wearable electronic system that combines advances in materials, chemistry, and mechanics to enable superior stretchability, self-healability, recyclability, and reconfigurability. This electronic system heterogeneously integrates rigid, soft, and liquid materials through a low-cost fabrication method. The properties reported in this wearable electronic system can find applications in many areas, including health care, robotics, and prosthetics, and can benefit the well-being, economy, and sustainability of our society.

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