High-density and ultra-sensitive electronic skin is expected to achieve mass production

The Stanford University’s Baozhannan team laid the foundation for the development of electronic components by taking the concept of “artificial skin” to a new height. They not only displayed precise stretchable electronic components that can sense the legs of ladybugs, but also demonstrated their ability to Large-scale manufacturing of such components. Humans can experience this world in many ways, our sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Our perception of the world through our hands benefits from our sensitive fingertips. Before we touch the flame, we can feel its heat, and we can feel the tenderness and tenderness of the newborn's face.

But for those who wear artificial limbs, they lose such ability. Prof. Bao Zhenan from Stanford University has led the team for many years to develop "tactile" "artificial skin." In fact, this is a unique electronic component that can be stretched, made of sensitive electronic materials, and can sense changes in current caused by tiny pressures.

In an article published on the 19th in Nature, the team described two technological breakthroughs: first, they created a scalable polymer circuit that can detect a man-made bug using an integrated touch sensor. Weak footprints. Although this technological achievement is a milestone in itself, the second is a more practical development. It is a large-scale production of this new type of flexible, scalable electronic components - a key step on the road to commercialization. .

“The research on artificial skin and flexible electronics has made great progress, but until now, no one has demonstrated the reliable production of stretchable circuits,” says Bao.

The team achieved the perfect integration of several layers of polymer, some of which provided the device's stretchability, and others as insulators to isolate electronically sensitive materials. One of them is that they use inkjet printers to draw circuits on specific coatings. The team has successfully made its material into a roughly two-inch square, with more than 6,000 individual signal processing devices, just like synthetic nerve endings. All of this is encapsulated in a waterproof protective layer.

The prototype can be stretched to twice its original size while maintaining its ability to conduct electricity without cracks, delamination, or wrinkles. In order to test durability, the team carried out more than 1,000 stretches of the sample but did not cause significant damage or decreased sensitivity. When researchers attach their samples to the irregular surface of human hands, the effect is still very good.

One day, the surface of the prosthesis may be covered with this kind of flexible electronic material, but before that, this technology may bring us new flexible electronic equipment, which will revolutionize the existing rigid electronic equipment. change.