One-step fabrication of ultrathin porous Janus membrane within seconds for waterproof and breathable electronic skin

Yufeng Ni; Bing Li; Chengzhen Chu; Shaofan Wang; Yujie Jia; Shichun Cao; Rasoul Esmaeely Neisiany; Chuanglong He; Shuo Chen; Zhengwei You

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2024.12.040

One-step fabrication of ultrathin porous Janus membrane within seconds for waterproof and breathable electronic skin

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2024 Dec 27:S2095-9273(24)00950-2. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.12.040. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, Institute of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Base of Textile Materials for Flexible Electronics and Biomedical Applications (China Textile Engineering Society), Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Nano-Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Lightweight Composite, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
² College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
³ Department of Materials and Polymer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, 9617976487, Iran; Biotechnology Centre, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, 44-100, Poland.
⁴ College of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, Institute of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Base of Textile Materials for Flexible Electronics and Biomedical Applications (China Textile Engineering Society), Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Nano-Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Lightweight Composite, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39837718
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.12.040

Abstract

It remains a challenge for a simple and scalable method to fabricate ultrathin porous Janus membranes for stretchable on-skin electronics. Here, we propose a one-step droplet spreading phase separation strategy to prepare an ultrathin and easily collected Janus thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) membrane within seconds. The metal-ion solvation structure mitigated migration kinetics to delay TPU solution demixing, promoting the further penetration of the coagulating solvent. Consequently, the developed membranes, with an average preparation rate of 25.2 cm² s^-1, had a thickness of 5 μm, and the water vapor transmission rate was determined to be 663 g m^-2 d^-1. The small pore layer having an average pore size of 1.7 μm effectively blocked external liquid water. The porous Janus TPU membrane coated by liquid metal served as a building block to develop a new generation of monolithic stretchable electronics with simultaneous high permeability and waterproofness.

Keywords: Biomedical elastomer; Electronic skin; Flexible electronics; Permeable electronics; Polyurethane.