Thermoplastic Elastomers for Wireless, Skin-Interfaced Electronic, and Microfluidic DevicesQuerrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Epicore Biosystems, Inc., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Wearifi Inc., Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Epicore Biosystems, Inc., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Wearifi Inc., Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA; Department of Neurological Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.
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2023 (English)In: Advanced Materials Technologies, E-ISSN 2365-709X, Vol. 8, no 19, article id 2300732Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Wireless, skin-interfaced electronic and microfluidic devices have the potential to replace wired, bulky, and cumbersome technologies for personal and clinical health monitoring, allowing care to extend from hospital settings to the home. For use on skin, these devices commonly employ silicone-based thermoset elastomers (TSEs) as layers that encapsulate the electronics or serve as molded microchannels for biofluid (e.g., sweat) capture, storage, and analysis. Barriers to commercial adoption of such devices include difficulties in use of these elastomers in conventional practices for mass manufacturing. Their relatively high cost and inability to allow for recycling represent additional disadvantages. By contrast, thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are fully compatible with industrial-scale manufacturing processes, low in cost, and recyclable. Like TSEs, TPEs are soft, stretchable, flexible, and optically transparent, while possessing other properties well-suited for applications in wireless, skin-interfaced devices. Herein, the characteristics, processing, and application techniques for three commercially available TPEs, including two thermoplastic polyurethanes as encapsulation layers for a wireless skin hydration sensor and one thermoplastic styrenic block copolymer for a microfluidic sweat analysis platform, are reported. The results demonstrate that TPEs can be effectively integrated into these classes of devices, as a compelling alternative to TSEs, as a mass-manufacturable, sustainable materials option.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley , 2023. Vol. 8, no 19, article id 2300732
Keywords [en]
encapsulation, sustainability, sweat microfluidics, thermoplastic elastomers, wireless wearables
National Category
Manufacturing, Surface and Joining Technology Materials Chemistry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-338537DOI: 10.1002/admt.202300732ISI: 001031627000001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85165024997OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-338537DiVA, id: diva2:1811758
Note
QC 20231114
2023-11-142023-11-142023-11-14Bibliographically approved