Challenges in Materials and Devices of Electronic Skin

Electronic skin is the flexible and wearable electronic system mimicking the functions and mechanical properties of the biological skin, which received increasing interest in recent years. Although efforts have been made to implement skin-like electronics in applications from everyday healthcare to advanced robotics, tremendous challenges in terms of immatual material selection and unbalanced device performances hinder its commercialization process. This Perspective covers the typical design difficulties of electronic skins, including effect of deformation on electrical properties, challenges in measuring precision and stability, integrating multisensories cooperatively, and manufacturing skills and process for large-scale production. In each section, works committed to solving such challenges from aspects of material modification, device preparation, and system design, together with potential research directions are highlighted.