Nanofiber-Reinforced Silver Nanowires Network as a Robust, Ultrathin, and Conformable Epidermal Electrode for Ambulatory Monitoring of Physiological Signals

Lu Liu, Hua Yang Li, You Jun Fan, Yang Hui Chen, Shuang Yang Kuang, Ze Bin Li, Zhong Lin Wang, Guang Zhu

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

81 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Extremely soft and thin electrodes with high skin conformability have potential applications in wearable devices for personal healthcare. Here, a submicrometer thick, highly robust, and conformable nanonetwork epidermal electrode (NEE) is reported. Electrospinning of polyamide nanofibers and electrospraying of silver nanowires are simultaneously performed to form a homogeneously convoluted network in a nonwoven way. For a 125 nm thick NEE, a low sheet resistance of ≈4 Ω sq−1 with an optical transmittance of ≈82% is achieved. Due to the nanofiber-based scaffold that undertakes most of the stress during deformation, the electric resistance of the NEE shows very little variation; less than 1.2% after 50 000 bending cycles. The NEE can form a fully conformal contact to human skin without additional adhesives, and the NEE shows a contact impedance that is over 50% lower than what is found in commercial gel electrodes. Due to conformal contact even under deformation, the NEE proves to be a stable, robust, and comfortable approach for measuring electrocardiogram signals, especially when a subject is in motion. These features make the NEE promising for use in the ambulatory measurement of physiological signals for healthcare applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1900755
JournalSmall
Volume15
Issue number22
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 May 2019

Keywords

  • biometric sensing
  • epidermal electrodes
  • epidermal electronics
  • nanofibers
  • sliver nanowires

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Engineering (miscellaneous)
  • Biotechnology
  • General Materials Science
  • Biomaterials

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