Intrinsically stretchable polymer semiconductor based electronic skin for multiple perceptions of force,temperature,and visible light

As a stretchable seamless device,electronic skin(E-skin)has drawn enormous interest due to its skin-like sensing capability.Besides the basic perception of force and temperature,multiple perception that is beyond existing functions of human skin is becoming an important direction for E-skin developments.However,the present E-skins for multiple perceptions mainly rely on different sensing materials and heterogeneous integration,resulting in a complex device structure.Additionally,their stretchability is usually achieved by the complicated microstructure design of rigid materials.Here,we report an intrinsically stretchable polymer semiconductor based E-skin with a simple structure for multiple perceptions of force,temperature,and visible light.The E-skin is on the basis of poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)nanofibers percolated polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)composite polymer semiconductor,which is fabricated by a facile solution method.The E-skin shows reliable sensing capabilities when it is used to perceive strain,pressure,temperature,and visible light.Based on the E-skin,an intelligent robotic hand sensing and controlling system is further demonstrated.Compared with conventional E-skins for multiple perceptions,this E-skin only has a simple monolayer sensing membrane without the need of combining different sensing materials,heterogeneous integration,and complicated microstructure design.Such a strategy of utilizing intrinsically stretchable polymer semiconductor to create simple structured E-skin for multiple perceptions will promote the development of E-skins in a broad application scenario,such as artificial robotic skins,virtual reality,intelligent gloves,and biointegrated electronics.