A joint research team recently have developed a new electronic skin that is similar to human skin in strength, durability(耐久性) and sensitivity. The skin or e-skin may play an important role in next-generation personalized medicine, soft robotics and artificial intelligence.
"The ideal e-skin will mimic(模仿) the many natural functions of human skin, such as sensing temperature and touch, accurately and in real time, " says leading researcher Yichen Cai. However, making suitably flexible electronics that can perform such delicate tasks while also used repeatedly is challenging, and each material involved must be carefully engineered.
Most e-skins are made by putting an active sensor on the surface that attaches to human skin. However, the connection between them is often too weak, which reduces the durability and sensitivity of the material; otherwise, if it is too strong, it won't be flexible enough, making it more likely to break the circuit.
"The landscape of skin electronics keeps shifting at a remarkable pace," says Cai. "The discovery of 2D sensors has accelerated efforts to turn these quite thin but strong materials into functional, durable artificial skins. "
The new man-made skin built by the researchers could sense objects from 20 centimeters away. It could further make a quick response when touched in less than one tenth of a second." It is a striking achievement for an e-skin to maintain toughness after repeated use, " said Shen, "which mimics the softness and rapid recovery of human skin."
This type of e-skin could monitor a range of biological information, such as changes in blood pressure, which can be detected from movements of arms and legs. This data can then be shared and stored on the cloud via Wi-Fi.
"One remaining problem to the widespread use of e-skins lies in mass production of high-resolution sensors," adds group leader Vincent Tung" however, the latest technology offers new promise."
