Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Inflammation-free, gas-permeable, lightweight, stretchable on-skin electronics with nanomeshes

Abstract

Thin-film electronic devices can be integrated with skin for health monitoring and/or for interfacing with machines. Minimal invasiveness is highly desirable when applying wearable electronics directly onto human skin. However, manufacturing such on-skin electronics on planar substrates results in limited gas permeability. Therefore, it is necessary to systematically investigate their long-term physiological and psychological effects. As a demonstration of substrate-free electronics, here we show the successful fabrication of inflammation-free, highly gas-permeable, ultrathin, lightweight and stretchable sensors that can be directly laminated onto human skin for long periods of time, realized with a conductive nanomesh structure. A one-week skin patch test revealed that the risk of inflammation caused by on-skin sensors can be significantly suppressed by using the nanomesh sensors. Furthermore, a wireless system that can detect touch, temperature and pressure is successfully demonstrated using a nanomesh with excellent mechanical durability. In addition, electromyogram recordings were successfully taken with minimal discomfort to the user.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: On-skin nanomesh electronics.
Figure 2: Biocompatibility test of nanomesh conductors.
Figure 3: Electrical performances of nanomesh conductors.
Figure 4: Electrical performance of nanomesh conductors on skin and their sensor applications.
Figure 5: PVA–Au nanomesh electrodes for electrophysiological applications.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Someya, T. et al. A large-area, flexible pressure sensor matrix with organic field-effect transistors for artificial skin applications. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 101, 9966–9970 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Someya, T. et al. Conformable, flexible, large-area networks of pressure and thermal sensors with organic transistor active matrixes. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci, USA 102, 12321–12325 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kim, D.-H. et al. Epidermal electronics. Science 333, 838–843 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Jeong, J.-W. et al. Materials and optimized designs for human-machine interfaces via epidermal electronics. Adv. Mater. 25, 6839–6846 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kaltenbrunner, M. et al. An ultra-lightweight design for imperceptible plastic electronics. Nature 499, 458–463 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sun, F. et al. A review of attacks and security protocols for wireless sensor networks. J. Networks 9, 1103–1113 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kim, D.-H. et al. Dissolvable films of silk fibroin for ultrathin conformal bio-integrated electronics. Nat. Mater. 9, 511–517 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pang, C. et al. Highly skin-conformal microhairy sensor for pulse signal amplification. Adv. Mater. 27, 634–640 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Choi, M. K. et al. Cephalopod-inspired miniaturized suction cups for smart medical skin. Adv. Healthc. Mater. 5, 80–87 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Yokota, T. et al. Ultraflexible organic photonic skin. Sci. Adv. 2, e1501856 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Choi, M. K. et al. Wearable red–green–blue quantum dot light-emitting diode array using high-resolution intaglio transfer printing. Nat. Commun. 6, 7149 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sun, J. Y., Keplinger, C., Whitesides, G. M. & Suo, Z. Ionic skin. Adv. Mater. 26, 7608–7614 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Bandodkar, A. J. et al. Tattoo-based noninvasive glucose monitoring: a proof-of-concept study. Anal. Chem. 87, 394–398 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lee, H. et al. A graphene-based electrochemical device with thermoresponsive microneedles for diabetes monitoring and therapy. Nat. Nanotech. 11, 566–572 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Isik, M. et al. Cholinium-based ion gels as solid electrolytes for long-term cutaneous electrophysiology. J. Mater. Chem. C 3, 8942–8948 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Norton, J. J. S. et al. Soft, curved electrode systems capable of integration on the auricle as a persistent brain–computer interface. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 3920–3925 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Möller, H. Contact allergy to gold as a model for clinical-experimental research. Contact Dermatitis 62, 193–200 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Chen, J. K. & Lampel, H. P. Gold contact allergy. Dermatitis 26, 69–77 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sekitani, T. et al. A rubberlike stretchable active matrix using elastic conductors. Science 321, 1468–1472 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Vural, M., Behrens, A. M., Ayyub, O. B., Ayoub, J. J. & Kofinas, P. Sprayable elastic conductors based on composites. ACS Nano 9, 336–344 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Jin, Y. et al. Buckled Au@PVP nanofiber networks for highly transparent and stretchable conductors. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2, 1500302 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Park, M. et al. Highly stretchable electric circuits from a composite material of silver nanoparticles and elastomeric fibres. Nat. Nanotech. 7, 803–809 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Lacour, S. P., Chan, D., Wagner, S., Li, T. & Suo, Z. Mechanisms of reversible stretchability of thin metal films on elastomeric substrates. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 204103 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Han, S. et al. Mechanically reinforced skin-electronics with networked nanocomposite elastomer. Adv. Mater. 28, 10257–10265 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Yokota, T. et al. Ultraflexible, large-area, physiological temperature sensors for multipoint measurements. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 14533–14538 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Canavese, G., Lombardi, M., Stassi, S. & Pirri, C. F. Comprehensive characterization of large piezoresistive variation of Ni-PDMS composites. Appl. Mech. Mater. 110–116, 1336–1344 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Stassi, S. & Canavese, G. Spiky nanostructured metal particles as filler of polymeric composites showing tunable electrical conductivity. J. Polym. Sci. Part B 50, 984–992 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lee, S. et al. A transparent bending-insensitive pressure sensor. Nat. Nanotech. 11, 472–478 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Ding, B., Wang, M., Wang, X., Yu, J. & Sun, G. Electrospun nanomaterials for ultrasensitive sensors. Mater. Today 13, 16–27 (November, 2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Liu, Y. et al. Epidermal mechano-acoustic sensing electronics for cardiovascular diagnostics and human-machine interfaces. Sci. Adv. 2, e1601185 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Yang, M.-R. & Chen, K.-S. Humidity sensors using polyvinyl alcohol mixed with electrolytes. Sens. Actuat. B 49, 240–247 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Wu, H. et al. A transparent electrode based on a metal nanotrough network. Nat. Nanotech. 8, 421–425 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the JST ERATO Bio-Harmonized Electronics Project (Grant Number:JPMJER1105). A.M. would like to thank K. Okaniwa for providing the wireless communication module. The authors would like to express their gratitude to D. D. Ordinario for his assistance in editing and proofreading the manuscript. S.H.L. would like to acknowledge the support from the SEUT Program of Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo. N.M. is supported by the Advanced Leading Graduate Course for Photon Science (ALPS) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) research fellowship for young scientists. H.J. is supported by the Graduate Program for Leaders in Life Innovation (GPLLI).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

A.M., S.W.L., N.F.C., M.M. and L.Y. fabricated the nanomeshes. A.M., S.H.L., N.M., L.Y., T.Y., M.S., A.I. and T.S. performed electric and mechanical characterizations and analysis. H.K., H.J., T.E. and M.A. performed biocompatible tests. T.S., A.M. and N.M. wrote the manuscript. T.S. supervised this project.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takao Someya.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information

Supplementary information (PDF 909 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Miyamoto, A., Lee, S., Cooray, N. et al. Inflammation-free, gas-permeable, lightweight, stretchable on-skin electronics with nanomeshes. Nature Nanotech 12, 907–913 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.125

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.125

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing