Nanowerk March 23, 20212
In wearable electronics, to acquire stability and simultaneously preserve stretchability, sensitivity, and scalability is of high significance yet challenging for practical device applications. Researchers in Japan developed a kirigami-structured graphene–polymer hybrid nanocomposite for strain sensors by a laser direct writing technique on a polyimide sheet. To protect the device, ecoflex polymer was applied as the passivation layer. Depending on the applications, ecoflex grid-wrapped and film-encapsulated have high stretchability and sensitivity. In demonstrations the sensor platform suffered almost no performance degradation even after >60 000 stretching cycle tests due to less strain within the sensor. As proof-of-concept for human-interactive applications they demonstrated motion detection and respiration monitoring with a breathing period of 3–4 s for a comparatively long duration (>2 hours). The technique, which is scalable, highly stable is a new route towards next-generation reliable wearable electronics…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Abstract. Credit: J. Mater. Chem. C, 2019,7, 9609-9617