Bioinspired Multifunctional Photonic-Electronic Smart Skin for Ultrasensitive Health Monitoring, for Visual and Self-Powered Sensing

Adv Mater. 2021 Nov;33(45):e2102332. doi: 10.1002/adma.202102332. Epub 2021 Sep 23.

Abstract

Smart skin is highly desired to be ultrasensitive and self-powered as the medium of artificial intelligence. Here, an ultrasensitive self-powered mechanoluminescence smart skin (SPMSS) inspired by the luminescence mechanism of cephalopod skin and the ultrasensitive response of spider-slit-organ is developed. Benefitting from the unique strain-dependent microcrack structure design based on Ti3 C2 Tx (MXene)/carbon nanotube synergistic interaction, SPMSS possesses excellent strain sensing performances including ultralow detection limit (0.001% strain), ultrahigh sensitivity (gauge factor, GF = 3.92 × 107 ), ultrafast response time (5 ms), and superior durability and stability (>45 000 cycles). Synchronously, SPMSS exhibits tunable and highly sensitive mechanoluminescence (ML) features under stretching. A relationship between ML features, strain sensing performances, and the deformation has been established successfully. Importantly, the SPMSS demonstrates excellent properties as triboelectric nanogenerator (4 × 4 cm2 ), including ultrahigh triboelectric output (open-circuit voltage VOC = 540 V, short-circuit current ISC = 42 µA, short-circuit charge QSC = 317 nC) and power density (7.42 W m-2 ), endowing the smart skin with reliable power source supply and self-powered sensing ability. This bioinspired smart skin exhibits multifunctional applications in health monitoring, visual sensing, and self-powered sensing, showing great potential in artificial intelligence.

Keywords: Ti 3C 2T x (MXene); mechanoluminescence; strain sensors; triboelectric nanogenerators; visual sensors.

MeSH terms

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Electronics / instrumentation
  • Electronics / methods*
  • Heart Rate / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nanotubes, Carbon / chemistry
  • Photons
  • Polyurethanes / chemistry
  • Titanium / chemistry
  • Wearable Electronic Devices*

Substances

  • Nanotubes, Carbon
  • Polyurethanes
  • titanium carbide
  • Titanium