Materials for wearable electronics

Wearable electronics could enable us to optimize every aspect of our personal health and performance. They might also have important ramifications for clinical use and theranostics.

Organic photovoltaic cells are thin, lightweight, flexible and semi-transparent. These characteristics unlock new possibilities for applications in agriculture, architecture, wearable electronics and health science.

Next-generation light-emitting displays should be not only flexible and bright but also soft and stretchable. Newly emerging light-emitting materials will enable body-conformable light-emitting devices with potential applications in a variety of fields, including displays, lighting, sensing, imaging, stimulation and therapy.

The metaverse may change the way we live and interact with one another, and its potential applications range from entertainment to health care. Extended reality is the main technology to realize the highly realistic, interactive and immersive metaverse experience, and wearable electronic devices and materials are at its core.

Wearable devices can sense physiological signals on the surface of the human body. This Review discusses the design, sensing mechanisms and fabrication of wearable devices that can probe deep-tissue signals, beyond the skin, to provide information about human health and disease.

Flexible self-charging power sources harvest energy from the ambient environment and simultaneously charge energy-storage devices. This Review discusses different kinds of available energy devices, power management strategies and applications of power-source integration in soft electronics.

Wearable sensors that access both biophysical and biochemical information can be used to monitor the physiological state of an individual and facilitate diagnosis. This Review examines the building blocks of wearable devices, including the substrate materials as well as the sensing, decision-making and power modules.

The surface mucosa that lines many of our organs hosts a diverse set of biometric signals. This Review compares present skin-interfacing and mucosa-interfacing electronics to inspire hardware solutions for developing devices for personalized biosensing from the mucosa.

An article in ACS Applied Energy Materials presents recyclable one-dimensional fibre-shaped supercapacitors for powering wearable electronic devices.

An article in Advanced Materials presents polymer donors with hydrogen-bonding spacers that enable intrinsically stretchable organic solar cells with a high power conversion efficiency and good stretchability.

An article in Nature Electronics reports a soft, reconfigurable synaptic transistor that retains functionality even when stretched by 50%.

An article in Nature Communications reports a range of imperceptible on-skin devices based on ultrathin, ultralight and gas-permeable 3D microstructure arrays.

An article in Nature Electronics reports a printable, stretchable on-skin sweat-sensing platform.