Customized graphene tattoos attached to the surface of the human body and objects. Ren Tianling team for the picture
The reporter learned from the team of Professor Ren Tianling from the Department of Micro-Nano Electronics of Tsinghua University that the team has achieved the world's first laser pointer customizable graphene electronic tattoo. This electronic skin has high sensitivity and can be directly attached to the skin or other substrates. In the future, it is used to detect people's breathing, heart rate, vocalization, etc., and it is expected to "extend in the future" in sports and biomedical fields.
Making electronic skin requires the device to have good flexibility, sensitivity, fit and comfort. Graphene is inherently excellent in electrical conductivity and flexibility and is ideal for making electronic skin. Ren Tianling explained to the reporter: "But the more beautiful, stable and reliable conformation of graphene on the surface of the skin, so that collecting various physiological signals is still a key problem to be solved." For this reason, they based on laser reduction of graphene, Graphene is combined with a tattoo to mimic the function of the electronic skin, and the microscopic deformation of the skin surface is monitored by resistance changes.
It is reported that in the process of graphics, the team pioneered a new process of wet stripping graphene oxide in the world, removing graphene oxide, leaving only graphene, making the device more beautiful, more sensitive, and able to withstand more High temperature. Moreover, the technology substrate is ultra-thin and does not wear discomfort. In addition, due to the advantages of laser pointer direct write programmability, the pattern of graphene can be personalized, which will be of great benefit to the future commercialization of the product.
Ren Tianling said that in addition to measuring the stretching and compression of the skin surface, the tattoo can be transferred to a variety of substrates (such as leaves, silk, etc.), and if it is popular in the future, people can understand their physical condition anytime and anywhere. In addition, the laser direct writing multilayer graphene used in the new research has the performance and cost advantages, which is very beneficial to the commercial production of the electronic skin.
The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation's key projects and the Ministry of Science and Technology project, and was published in the American Chemical Society Nano.