Highly\nStretchable, Adhesive, and Mechanical Zwitterionic\nNanocomposite Hydrogel Biomimetic Skin

Abstract

The artificial skin-like\nstretchable ionic sensor device usually\nrequires a synergistic effect of reliable adhesion between human machine\ninterface, reasonable mechanical strength, and visually displayable\ntransparency. A plant-inspired zwitterionic hydrogel was prepared\nthrough rapid UV initiation in the existence of cellulose nanocrystals\nas physically crosslinker and reinforcing agent. The resulting transparent\nzwitterionic nanocomposite hydrogel successfully brings the synergistic\nadvantages of robust adhesive strength between diversified substrates\nsuch as skins, plastics, glass, and steels with remarkable mechanical\nproperties of a superior stretchability over 1000% strain, a mechanical\ntensile strength up to 0.61 MPa, and compressive strength up to 7.5\nMPa, manifesting in superior ionic transport performance, simultaneously.\nFurthermore, the zwitterionic nanocomposite hydrogel was fabricated\nas a wearable compliant stretchable pressure–strain sensor\nin the modality of the skin-adhesive patch to be sensitive to human\nmotion such as finger touch and speech recognition for personal healthcare\nof patient sensory rebuilding and physiological data acquisition.\nIt maintains compressive cycling sensibility at diverse pressure during\n0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 Hz, respectively. The multifunctional zwitterionic\nnanocomposite hydrogel could also be assembled into flexible electrical\ndevices such as luminescent display and information transfer between\nhuman and robot communication for mechanosensory electronics and artificial\nintelligence.