Stretchable, Washable, and Rewritable Electrophoretic Displays with Tough Hydrogel–Elastomer Interface

Abstract

Abstract Tremendous advances in stretchable and biocompatible electronics have led to broad requirements of wearable display devices. However, most devices suffer from insufficient reliability owing to structural mismatch and bubbles under repeated deformation. To address this issue, this article presents a stretchable electrophoretic display (SEPD) with reinforced adhesion by in situ adhesion decoration between the hydrogel electrode and the elastomer display layer. The SEPD with a maximum strain of over 80% can still operate properly. Moreover, the SEPD device is endowed with stretchable, washable, rewritable, and erasable properties owing to the inherent characteristics of the elastomer‐based materials used. Arbitrary texts and patterns can be drawn and maintained for over 43 days of bistability without a predetermined patterned electrode or a thin‐film transistor as the addressing switches. In addition, the casting and blade coatings used in this work are suitable for mass production. The proposed hybrid structure with tough adhesion provides a new paradigm for other wearable devices.