Motion-Interference Free and Self-Compensated Multi-Receptor Skin with all Gel for Sensory Enhancement

Abstract

Stretchable multimodal electronic skin (e-skin) has attracted intensive research interest but faces great challenges related to strain interference, crosstalk issues, and integration of multiple sensitive materials. Herein, a stretchable and strain-isolated multimodal (SSIM) e-skin capable of concurrently and sensitively monitoring temperature, humidity, UV light, and oxygen, while also possessing self-compensation capability is developed. The SSIM sensing platform is created by chemically anchoring polyethylene terephthalate onto polydimethylsiloxane through silane treatment to form island-bridge structures. This method effectively isolates strain and improves interfacial adhesion, achieving a state-of-the-art low strain interference of 0.2% and an adhesion energy exceeding 300 J m⁻² (13.4 times that of the untreated material), ensuring the e-skin's stable operation even under dynamic stretching. To mitigate crosstalk and fabrication complexity, a single hydrogel film is employed to facilitate self-compensating multimodal sensing through various sensing mechanisms and physical isolations. The SSIM e-skin can simultaneously monitor several environmental and physiological signals with minimized crosstalk without interference from body movements. It enables remote respiration monitoring with wireless circuitry, highlighting its substantial potential in health monitoring, medical diagnostics, and neurorehabilitation.