skip to main content

Attention:

The NSF Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET on Thursday, October 10 until 2:00 AM ET on Friday, October 11 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


Title: Flexible and Stretchable Organic Electrochemical Transistors for Physiological Sensing Devices
Abstract

Flexible and stretchable bioelectronics provides a biocompatible interface between electronics and biological systems and has received tremendous attention for in situ monitoring of various biological systems. Considerable progress in organic electronics has made organic semiconductors, as well as other organic electronic materials, ideal candidates for developing wearable, implantable, and biocompatible electronic circuits due to their potential mechanical compliance and biocompatibility. Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), as an emerging class of organic electronic building blocks, exhibit significant advantages in biological sensing due to the ionic nature at the basis of the switching behavior, low driving voltage (<1 V), and high transconductance (in millisiemens range). During the past few years, significant progress in constructing flexible/stretchable OECTs (FSOECTs) for both biochemical and bioelectrical sensors has been reported. In this regard, to summarize major research accomplishments in this emerging field, this review first discusses structure and critical features of FSOECTs, including working principles, materials, and architectural engineering. Next, a wide spectrum of relevant physiological sensing applications, where FSOECTs are the key components, are summarized. Last, major challenges and opportunities for further advancing FSOECT physiological sensors are discussed.

 
more » « less
Award ID(s):
2223922
NSF-PAR ID:
10477394
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
wiley
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Advanced Materials
Volume:
35
Issue:
35
ISSN:
0935-9648
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    Soft (flexible and stretchable) biosensors have great potential in real-time and continuous health monitoring of various physiological factors, mainly due to their better conformability to soft human tissues and organs, which maximizes data fidelity and minimizes biological interference. Most of the early soft sensors focused on sensing physical signals. Recently, it is becoming a trend that novel soft sensors are developed to sense and monitor biochemical signalsin situin real biological environments, thus providing much more meaningful data for studying fundamental biology and diagnosing diverse health conditions. This is essential to decentralize the healthcare resources towards predictive medicine and better disease management. To meet the requirements of mechanical softness and complex biosensing, unconventional materials, and manufacturing process are demanded in developing biosensors. In this review, we summarize the fundamental approaches and the latest and representative design and fabrication to engineer soft electronics (flexible and stretchable) for wearable and implantable biochemical sensing. We will review the rational design and ingenious integration of stretchable materials, structures, and signal transducers in different application scenarios to fabricate high-performance soft biosensors. Focus is also given to how these novel biosensors can be integrated into diverse important physiological environments and scenariosin situ, such as sweat analysis, wound monitoring, and neurochemical sensing. We also rethink and discuss the current limitations, challenges, and prospects of soft biosensors. This review holds significant importance for researchers and engineers, as it assists in comprehending the overarching trends and pivotal issues within the realm of designing and manufacturing soft electronics for biochemical sensing.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    Nanomaterial‐enabled flexible and stretchable electronics have seen tremendous progress in recent years, evolving from single sensors to integrated sensing systems. Compared with nanomaterial‐enabled sensors with a single function, integration of multiple sensors is conducive to comprehensive monitoring of personal health and environment, intelligent human–machine interfaces, and realistic imitation of human skin in robotics and prosthetics. Integration of sensors with other functional components promotes real‐world applications of the sensing systems. Here, an overview of the design and integration strategies and manufacturing techniques for such sensing systems is given. Then, representative nanomaterial‐enabled flexible and stretchable sensing systems are presented. Following that, representative applications in personal health, fitness tracking, electronic skins, artificial nervous systems, and human–machine interactions are provided. To conclude, perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in this burgeoning field are considered.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    Stretchable electronics outperform existing rigid and bulky electronics and benefit a wide range of species, including humans, machines, and robots, whose activities are associated with large mechanical deformation and strain. Due to the nonstretchable nature of most electronic materials, in particular semiconductors, stretchable electronics are mostly realized through the strategies of architectural engineering to accommodate mechanical stretching rather than imposing strain into the materials directly. On the other hand, recent development of stretchable electronics by creating them entirely from stretchable elastomeric electronic materials, i.e., rubbery electronics, suggests a feasible a venue. Rubbery electronics have gained increasing interest due to the unique advantages that they and their associated manufacturing technologies have offered. This work reviews the recent progress in developing rubbery electronics, including the crucial stretchable elastomeric materials of rubbery conductors, rubbery semiconductors, and rubbery dielectrics. Thereafter, various rubbery electronics such as rubbery transistors, integrated electronics, rubbery optoelectronic devices, and rubbery sensors are discussed.

     
    more » « less
  4.  
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    The development of wireless implantable sensors and integrated systems, enabled by advances in flexible and stretchable electronics technologies, is emerging to advance human health monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment. Progress in material and fabrication strategies allows for implantable electronics for unobtrusive monitoring via seamlessly interfacing with tissues and wirelessly communicating. Combining new nanomaterials and customizable printing processes offers unique possibilities for high‐performance implantable electronics. Here, this report summarizes the recent progress and advances in nanomaterials and printing technologies to develop wireless implantable sensors and electronics. Advances in materials and printing processes are reviewed with a focus on challenges in implantable applications. Demonstrations of wireless implantable electronics and advantages based on these technologies are discussed. Lastly, existing challenges and future directions of nanomaterials and printing are described.

     
    more » « less