Ultrathin epidermal strain sensor based on an elastomer nanosheet with an inkjet-printed conductive polymer

Abstract

To minimize the interference that skin-contact strain sensors cause natural skin deformation, physical conformability to the epidermal structure is critical. Here, we developed an ultrathin strain sensor made from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) inkjet-printed on a polystyrene–polybutadiene–polystyrene (SBS) nanosheet. The sensor, whose total thickness and gauge factor were ∼1 µm and 0.73 ± 0.10, respectively, deeply conformed to the epidermal structure and successfully detected the small skin strain (∼2%) while interfering minimally with the natural deformation of the skin. Such an epidermal strain sensor will open a new avenue for precisely detecting the motion of human skin and artificial soft-robotic skin.