Gas‐Permeable, Multifunctional On‐Skin Electronics Based on Laser‐Induced Porous Graphene and Sugar‐Templated Elastomer Sponges

TLDR

Soft on‑skin electronics are widely used in healthcare, human‑machine interfaces, and robotics, yet most current devices are made from materials with limited gas permeability and require costly, complex fabrication, restricting long‑term use. The authors propose a simple, general method to produce multifunctional on‑skin electronics that combine high‑gas‑permeability porous materials with easy fabrication. They fabricate the devices by laser‑patterning porous graphene for sensing elements and using sugar‑templated silicone elastomer sponges as breathable substrates. The resulting prototypes—including electrophysiological, hydration, temperature sensors, and joule‑heating elements—deliver signal quality comparable to rigid devices while achieving roughly 18‑fold higher water‑vapor permeability and rapid wicking, thereby reducing discomfort and improving long‑term feasibility.

Abstract

Soft on-skin electronics have broad applications in human healthcare, human-machine interface, robotics, and others. However, most current on-skin electronic devices are made of materials with limited gas permeability, which constrain perspiration evaporation, resulting in adverse physiological and psychological effects, limiting their long-term feasibility. In addition, the device fabrication process usually involves e-beam or photolithography, thin-film deposition, etching, and/or other complicated procedures, which are costly and time-consuming, constraining their practical applications. Here, a simple, general, and effective approach for making multifunctional on-skin electronics using porous materials with high-gas permeability, consisting of laser-patterned porous graphene as the sensing components and sugar-templated silicone elastomer sponges as the substrates, is reported. The prototype device examples include electrophysiological sensors, hydration sensors, temperature sensors, and joule-heating elements, showing signal qualities comparable to conventional, rigid, gas-impermeable devices. Moreover, the devices exhibit high water-vapor permeability (≈18 mg cm-2 h-1 ), ≈18 times higher than that of the silicone elastomers without pores, and also show high water-wicking rates after polydopamine treatment, up to 1 cm per 30 s, which is comparable to that of cotton. The on-skin devices with such attributes could facilitate perspiration transport and evaporation, and minimize discomfort and inflammation risks, thereby improving their long-term feasiblity.