Repurposed Leather with Sensing Capabilities for Multifunctional Electronic Skin

TLDR

Electronic skin has progressed by mimicking and surpassing natural skin, yet most substrates are flexible polymers like PDMS, which, while biocompatible, are unsuitable for long‑term wear due to air impermeability. This study aims to develop a simple, designable leather‑based e‑skin that fuses leather’s natural structure and comfort with nanomaterials’ multifunctionality. The authors merge leather’s sophisticated structure with nanomaterials to create a multifunctional e‑skin applicable to flexible pressure sensors, displays, and user‑interactive devices. The resulting leather‑based e‑skin repurposes leather for sensing, providing a new class of materials that can mimic or even surpass real skin functions.

Abstract

Electronic skin (e-skin), an important part toward the realization of artificial intelligence, has been developing through comprehending, mimicking, and eventually outperforming skin in some aspects. Most of the e-skin substrates are flexible polymers, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Although PDMS was found to be biocompatible, it is not suitable for long-time wearing due to its air impermeability. This study reports a simple and designable leather based e-skin by merging the natural sophisticated structure and wearing comfort of leather with the multifunctional properties of nanomaterials. The leather based e-skin could make leather, "the dead skin," repurposed for its sensing capabilities. This e-skin can be applied in flexible pressure sensors, displays, user-interactive devices, etc. It provides a new class of materials for the development of multifunctional e-skin to mimic or even outshine the functions of real skin.