Electronic skin

Electronic skin, also known as e-skin, refers to flexible, stretchable, and self-healing electronics that are able to mimic the functionalities of human or animal skin. This broad class of materials often contains sensing abilities, which are designed to reproduce the capabilities of human skin to respond to environmental factors such as changes in heat and pressure.

Advances in electronic skin research focus on the design of materials that should exhibit the following characteristics: high sensitivity/resolution, low thickness, conformability, flexibility and stretchability, durability and robustness, self-healing, biocompatibility, high spatial resolution, low power consumption and self-powered, sweat induction/analysis, and real-time data processing.

Research in the individual fields of flexible electronics and tactile sensing has progressed significantly. However, the field of electronic skin design aims to integrate advances from multiple areas of materials research without sacrificing the individual benefits derived from each field. The successful combination of flexible and stretchable mechanical properties with integrated sensors and self-healing capabilities would enable numerous applications, including soft robotics, prosthetics, artificial intelligence systems, and health monitoring devices.

Recent advances in the field of electronic skin have focused on incorporating green materials ideals and environmental awareness into the design process. As one of the main challenges facing electronic skin development is the ability of the material to withstand mechanical strain and maintain sensing ability or electronic properties, recyclability and self-healing properties are especially critical in the future design of new electronic skins.