Multifunctional Skin‐Inspired Flexible Sensor Systems for Wearable Electronics

TLDR

Skin‑inspired wearable devices promise smart portable electronics for healthcare monitoring, soft robotics, AI, and human–machine interfaces, yet the IoT requires flexible systems that mimic skin perception and are economically manufacturable at scale. This review aims to cover and highlight the latest advances in multifunctional wearable electronics. It focuses on versatile multimodal sensor systems, self‑healing material‑based devices, and self‑powered flexible sensors. The innovations discussed are expected to advance science and benefit humanity in the near future.

Abstract

Abstract Skin‐inspired wearable devices hold great potentials in the next generation of smart portable electronics owing to their intriguing applications in healthcare monitoring, soft robotics, artificial intelligence, and human–machine interfaces. Despite tremendous research efforts dedicated to judiciously tailoring wearable devices in terms of their thickness, portability, flexibility, bendability as well as stretchability, the emerging Internet of Things demand the skin‐interfaced flexible systems to be endowed with additional functionalities with the capability of mimicking skin‐like perception and beyond. This review covers and highlights the latest advances of burgeoning multifunctional wearable electronics, primarily including versatile multimodal sensor systems, self‐healing material‐based devices, and self‐powered flexible sensors. To render the penetration of human‐interactive devices into global markets and households, economical manufacturing techniques are crucial to achieve large‐scale flexible systems with high‐throughput capability. The booming innovations in this research field will push the scientific community forward and benefit human beings in the near future.