Engineering researchers at North Carolina State University have created an ultra-thin, stretchable, breathable electronic material. Breathability allows the material to breathe, making it more comfortable to wear. Researchers have designed materials specifically for biomedical or wearable technology, in which breathability evaporates sweat and volatile organic compounds from the skin.
The breathable function makes the wearable electronic device more comfortable when worn for a long time. Researchers say that breathability is a big improvement compared to early stretchable electronics. These teams say that the materials they develop are important because it is a simple process that is easy to expand. The researchers used a technique called the respiration method to make stretchable polymer films with uniform pore distribution.
The film is coated by immersing the film in a solution containing silver nanowires, and then the material is hot pressed to seal the nanowires. The researchers said that the film showed a good combination of electrical conductivity, optical transparency and water vapor permeability. Because the silver nanowires are embedded just below the polymer surface, the material is also stable in the presence of sweat.
The material created by the team is very fragile, only a few microns thick. Breathability of wearable electronic devices is very important for comfort, because if not breathable, it can cause skin irritation. The first prototype created by the team is a dry electrode that can be installed on the skin and used as an electrophysiological sensor. This sensor has a variety of potential applications, including ECG and EMG measurement.