User‐Interactive Thermotherapeutic Electronic Skin Based on Stretchable Thermochromic Strain Sensor

✅ 全文

基于可拉伸热致变色应变传感器的用户交互式热治疗电子皮肤

作者 Giwon Lee; Geun Yeol Bae; Jong Hyun Son; Siyoung Lee; Siyoung Lee; Seong-Won Kim; Daegun Kim; Seung Goo Lee; Seung Goo Lee; Kilwon Cho 期刊 Advanced Science 发表日期 2020 ISSN 2198-3844 DOI 10.1002/advs.202001184 类型 原创研究 (Original Research)

📄 英文摘要 English Abstract

EN

User-interactive electronic skin (e-skin) with a distinguishable output has enormous potential for human-machine interfaces and healthcare applications. Despite advances in user-interactive e-skins, advances in visual user-interactive therapeutic e-skins remain rare. Here, a user-interactive thermotherapeutic device is reported that is fabricated by combining thermochromic composites and stretchable strain sensors consisting of strain-responsive silver nanowire networks on surface energy-patterned microwrinkles. Both the color and heat of the device are easily controlled through electrical resistance variation induced by applied mechanical strain. The resulting monolithic device exhibits substantial changes in optical reflectance and temperature with durability, rapid response, high stretchability, and linear sensitivity. The approach enables a low-expertise route to fabricating dynamic interactive thermotherapeutic e-skins that can be used to effectively rehabilitate injured connective tissues as well as to prevent skin burns by simultaneously accommodating stretching, providing heat, and exhibiting a color change.

📄 中文摘要 Chinese Abstract

中文
用户交互设备能够响应外部刺激(即应变、压力、化学、光和温度)改变其颜色、透明度和形状,使用户能够直观感知这些刺激。最重要的是,用户交互电子皮肤可贴附于活动部位,并能对环境刺激作出反应。可贴附皮肤的治疗设备也取得了重大进展,能够动态对人体进行实时治疗。然而,视觉用户交互治疗设备尚未得到验证,以往开发的治疗设备大多通过将单个传感器和治疗组件进行复杂集成而制成。热疗是缓解和治疗结缔组织损伤最简单的方法之一。为了有效治疗和康复受损结缔组织,必须同时施加热量和拉伸。因此,研究人员近期开发了基于可拉伸导电材料的可拉伸热疗设备。尽管取得了这些成就,但上述设备仅展示了通过施加电源或微控制器单元附加电路来控制热量。人体皮肤无法识别绝对温度,且容易适应持续热量。长时间对皮肤施加热量会导致低温烫伤:44°C(6小时)、45°C(3小时)、48°C(15分钟)和52°C(1分钟)。因此,开发一种可拉伸形式的、易于控制的热疗可视化设备非常必要。

📋 英文结构化总结 English Structured Summary

全文整理

EN

Background:

User‐interactive devices change their color, transparency, and shape in response to external stimuli (i.e., strain, pressure, chemical, light, and temperature), which enables users to be visually aware of the stimuli. Most importantly, user‐interactive e‑skins can be attached to movable parts and can react to environmental stimuli. Substantial improvements have also been achieved in skin‑attachable therapeutic devices that can dynamically perform real‑time therapy of a human body. However, visual user‑interactive therapeutic devices have not yet been demonstrated, and previously developed therapeutic devices have been mostly fabricated through sophisticated integration of individual sensors and therapy components. Thermotherapy is one of the simplest methods of alleviating and treating connective tissue injuries. To effectively treat and rehabilitate injured connective tissue, heat and stretch must be applied simultaneously. Therefore, researchers have recently developed stretchable thermotherapeutic devices based on stretchable conducting materials. Despite these achievements, the aforementioned devices only demonstrated heat control via an applied electrical source or an additional circuit of microcontroller units. Human skin cannot recognize absolute temperature and adapts easily to persistent heat. The long‑term application of heat to human skin causes low‑temperature burns: 44 °C (6 h), 45 °C (3 h), 48 °C (15 min), and 52 °C (1 min). Consequently, the development of an easily controlled thermotherapeutic visualization device in a stretchable form is highly desirable.

Methods:

Here, we present a user‑interactive temperature visualization heater comprising a thermochromic film on a stretchable strain sensor. The stretchable heater developed in the present work consists of highly percolated AgNWs on a wrinkled poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) film. When tensile strain is applied, the geometry of the wrinkles and the percolation of the AgNWs change, increasing the film's resistance. This behavior generates a large amount of heat and transfers it to the thermochromic layer to induce color changes. The device is fabricated by combining thermochromic composites and stretchable strain sensors consisting of strain‑responsive silver nanowire networks on surface energy‑patterned microwrinkles.

Results:

Both the color and heat of the device are easily controlled through electrical resistance variation induced by applied mechanical strain. The resulting monolithic device exhibits substantial changes in optical reflectance and temperature with durability, rapid response, high stretchability, and linear sensitivity. The device can withstand up to 100% strain and endure 1000 repeated mechanical strain (50%) cycles under stretch/release conditions. These smart devices were attached to human skin, where they function as thermotherapy visualization devices to effectively control various amounts of heat transfer depending on the degree of human motion while simultaneously preventing skin burns.

Data Summary:

The device can withstand up to 100% strain and endure 1000 repeated mechanical strain (50%) cycles under stretch/release conditions. The long‑term application of heat to human skin causes low‑temperature burns at thresholds of 44 °C (6 h), 45 °C (3 h), 48 °C (15 min), and 52 °C (1 min).

Conclusions:

User‑interactive thermotherapeutic electronic skin (e‑skin) is fabricated by combining thermochromic composites and stretchable strain sensors consisting of strain‑responsive silver nanowire networks on surface energy‑patterned microwrinkles. This e‑skin can be applied to effectively rehabilitate a connective tissue injury, being avoided from skin burns. The approach enables a low‑expertise route to fabricating dynamic interactive thermotherapeutic e‑skins that can be used to effectively rehabilitate injured connective tissues as well as to prevent skin burns by simultaneously accommodating stretching, providing heat, and exhibiting a color change. This versatile device can treat areas ranging from small finger joints to large wrist joints.

Practical Significance:

These smart devices were attached to human skin, where they function as thermotherapy visualization devices to effectively control various amounts of heat transfer depending on the degree of human motion while simultaneously preventing skin burns. This versatile device can treat areas ranging from small finger joints to large wrist joints, and can be used to effectively rehabilitate injured connective tissues.

📋 中文结构化总结 Chinese Structured Summary

中文

背景:

用户交互设备能够响应外部刺激(即应变、压力、化学、光和温度)改变其颜色、透明度和形状,使用户能够直观感知这些刺激。最重要的是,用户交互电子皮肤可贴附于活动部位,并能对环境刺激作出反应。可贴附皮肤的治疗设备也取得了重大进展,能够动态对人体进行实时治疗。然而,视觉用户交互治疗设备尚未得到验证,以往开发的治疗设备大多通过将单个传感器和治疗组件进行复杂集成而制成。热疗是缓解和治疗结缔组织损伤最简单的方法之一。为了有效治疗和康复受损结缔组织,必须同时施加热量和拉伸。因此,研究人员近期开发了基于可拉伸导电材料的可拉伸热疗设备。尽管取得了这些成就,但上述设备仅展示了通过施加电源或微控制器单元附加电路来控制热量。人体皮肤无法识别绝对温度,且容易适应持续热量。长时间对皮肤施加热量会导致低温烫伤:44°C(6小时)、45°C(3小时)、48°C(15分钟)和52°C(1分钟)。因此,开发一种可拉伸形式的、易于控制的热疗可视化设备非常必要。

方法:

本文提出了一种用户交互温度可视化加热器,由可拉伸应变传感器上的热致变色薄膜组成。本工作中开发的可拉伸加热器由褶皱聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)薄膜上高度渗流的银纳米线(AgNWs)构成。施加拉伸应变时,褶皱的几何形状和AgNWs的渗流发生变化,导致薄膜电阻增加。这种行为产生大量热量并将其传递至热致变色层,从而引起颜色变化。该设备通过将热致变色复合材料与可拉伸应变传感器结合制备而成,应变传感器由表面能图案化微褶皱上的应变响应银纳米线网络组成。

结果:

该设备的颜色和热量均可通过施加机械应变引起的电阻变化轻松控制。所制备的整体器件在光学反射率和温度方面表现出显著变化,具有耐久性、快速响应、高拉伸性和线性灵敏度。该设备可承受高达100%的应变,并在拉伸/释放条件下经受1000次重复机械应变(50%)循环。这些智能设备贴附于人体皮肤,作为热疗可视化设备,根据人体运动程度有效控制不同量的热量传递,同时防止皮肤烫伤。

数据总结:

该设备可承受高达100%的应变,并在拉伸/释放条件下经受1000次重复机械应变(50%)循环。长时间对皮肤施加热量会在以下阈值导致低温烫伤:44°C(6小时)、45°C(3小时)、48°C(15分钟)和52°C(1分钟)。

结论:

用户交互热疗电子皮肤通过将热致变色复合材料与可拉伸应变传感器结合制备而成,应变传感器由表面能图案化微褶皱上的应变响应银纳米线网络组成。该电子皮肤可有效康复结缔组织损伤,同时避免皮肤烫伤。该方法为制造动态交互热疗电子皮肤提供了一条低技术门槛的途径,可用于有效康复受损结缔组织,并通过同时适应拉伸、提供热量和呈现颜色变化来防止皮肤烫伤。这种多功能设备可治疗从小型指关节到大型腕关节的各种部位。

实际意义:

这些智能设备贴附于人体皮肤,作为热疗可视化设备,根据人体运动程度有效控制不同量的热量传递,同时防止皮肤烫伤。这种多功能设备可治疗从小型指关节到大型腕关节的各种部位,并可用于有效康复受损结缔组织。

📖 英文全文 English Full Text

EN

Adv Sci (Weinh) Adv Sci (Weinh) 2933 advsci ADVS Advanced Science 2198-3844 Wiley PMC7507701 PMC7507701.1 7507701 7507701 32999818 10.1002/advs.202001184 ADVS1759 1 Communication Communications User‐Interactive Thermotherapeutic Electronic Skin Based on Stretchable Thermochromic Strain Sensor Lee Giwon

1 Bae Geun Yeol 1 Son Jong Hyun 1 Lee Siyoung 1 Kim Seong Won

1 Kim Daegun 1 Lee Seung Goo 2 lees9@ulsan.ac.kr Cho Kilwon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0321-3629

1 kwcho@postech.ac.kr 1 Department of Chemical Engineering

Pohang University of Science and Technology Pohang

37673 Korea

2 Department of Chemistry University of Ulsan Ulsan

44610 Korea * E‐mail: lees9@ulsan.ac.kr ; kwcho@postech.ac.kr 08 6 2020 9 2020 7 17 365489 10.1002/advs.v7.17 2001184 31 3 2020 14 4 2020 08 06 2020 29 09 2020 28 03 2024 © 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract User‐interactive electronic skin (e‐skin) with a distinguishable output has enormous potential for human–machine interfaces and healthcare applications. Despite advances in user‐interactive e‐skins, advances in visual user‐interactive therapeutic e‐skins remain rare. Here, a user‐interactive thermotherapeutic device is reported that is fabricated by combining thermochromic composites and stretchable strain sensors consisting of strain‐responsive silver nanowire networks on surface energy‐patterned microwrinkles. Both the color and heat of the device are easily controlled through electrical resistance variation induced by applied mechanical strain. The resulting monolithic device exhibits substantial changes in optical reflectance and temperature with durability, rapid response, high stretchability, and linear sensitivity. The approach enables a low‐expertise route to fabricating dynamic interactive thermotherapeutic e‐skins that can be used to effectively rehabilitate injured connective tissues as well as to prevent skin burns by simultaneously accommodating stretching, providing heat, and exhibiting a color change. User‐interactive thermotherapeutic electronic skin (e‐skin) is fabricated by combining thermochromic composites and stretchable strain sensors consisting of strain‐responsive silver nanowire networks on surface energy‐patterned microwrinkles. Both the color and heat of the device are easily controlled through electrical resistance variation induced by external mechanical strain. This e‐skin can be applied to effectively rehabilitate a connective tissue injury, being avoided from skin burns.

electronic skins silver nanowires strain sensors thermochromic composites wrinkles pmc-status-qastatus 0 pmc-status-live yes pmc-status-embargo no pmc-status-released yes pmc-prop-open-access yes pmc-prop-olf no pmc-prop-manuscript no pmc-prop-legally-suppressed no pmc-prop-has-pdf yes pmc-prop-has-supplement yes pmc-prop-pdf-only no pmc-prop-suppress-copyright no pmc-prop-is-real-version no pmc-prop-is-scanned-article no pmc-prop-preprint no pmc-prop-in-epmc yes pmc-license-ref CC BY source-schema-version-number 2.0 cover-date September 9, 2020 details-of-publishers-convertor Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_JATSPMC version:5.9.1 mode:remove_FC converted:22.09.2020

G.

Lee , G. Y.

Bae , J. H.

Son , S.

Lee , S. W.

Kim , D.

Kim , S. G.

Lee , K.

Cho , User‐Interactive Thermotherapeutic Electronic Skin Based on Stretchable Thermochromic Strain Sensor . Adv. Sci.

2020 , 7 , 2001184 10.1002/advs.202001184 PMC7507701 32999818

User‐interactive devices change their color, transparency, and shape in response to external stimuli (i.e., strain, [

1 , 2 , 3

] pressure, [

4 , 5 , 6

] chemical, [

7 , 8

] light, [

9

] and temperature [

10

] ), which enables users to be visually aware of the stimuli. These visual changes provide a versatile platform for devices such as electronic skin (e‐skin), [

11

] smart windows, [

12 , 13

] and soft robotics [

14

] to interact with the user under widely varying stimuli. Most importantly, user‐interactive e‐skins can be attached to movable parts and can react to environmental stimuli. Thus, e‐skins have numerous potential applications, including human motion detection, [

15

] health monitoring, [

8

] and human–machine interfaces. [

6

] Substantial improvements have also been achieved in skin‐attachable therapeutic devices that can dynamically perform real‐time therapy of a human body. [

16 , 17 , 18

] However, visual user‐interactive therapeutic devices have not yet been demonstrated, and previously developed therapeutic devices have been mostly fabricated through sophisticated integration of individual sensors and therapy components. A simple and controllable method that enables the fabrication of user‐interactive therapeutic devices is, thus, a desirable goal. Thermotherapy is one of the simplest methods of alleviating and treating connective tissue injuries. To effectively treat and rehabilitate injured connective tissue, heat and stretch must be applied simultaneously. [

19

] Therefore, researchers have recently developed stretchable thermotherapeutic devices based on stretchable conducting materials. [

16 , 20 , 21

] For example, Ouyang's group fabricated a highly stretchable electrothermal heater using composites of intrinsically conductive poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonic acid), elastomeric waterborne polyurethane, and reduced graphene oxide; their heater can generate approximately the same amount of heat under tensile strains as large as 30%. [

17

] Kim's group developed a soft, thin, and stretchable heater using stretchable nanocomposites of silver nanowires (AgNWs) and thermoplastic elastomers, which enabled effective heat transfer to curvilinear joints even during motion. [

18

] Despite these achievements, the aforementioned devices only demonstrated heat control via an applied electrical source or an additional circuit of microcontroller units. They do not exhibit visual changes in response to heat, which is critical characteristic of user‐interactive thermotherapeutic devices. Human skin cannot recognize absolute temperature and adapts easily to persistent heat. [

22

] The long‐term application of heat to human skin causes low‐temperature burns: 44 °C (6 h), 45 °C (3 h), 48 °C (15 min), and 52 °C (1 min). [

23

] Consequently, the development of an easily controlled thermotherapeutic visualization device in a stretchable form is highly desirable. Here, we present a user‐interactive temperature visualization heater comprising a thermochromic film on a stretchable strain sensor. To the best of our knowledge, although stretchable devices based on AgNW networks and structured elastomer substrates have been extensively studied as stretchable strain sensors [

24

] or heaters, [

18

] no attempts to integrate a highly stretchable strain sensor with a heater for thermotherapy have been reported. The stretchable heater developed in the present work consists of highly percolated AgNWs on a wrinkled poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) film. When tensile strain is applied, the geometry of the wrinkles and the percolation of the AgNWs change, increasing the film's resistance. This behavior generates a large amount of heat and transfers it to the thermochromic layer to induce color changes. The device can withstand up to 100% strain and endure 1000 repeated mechanical strain (50%) cycles under stretch/release conditions. These smart devices were attached to human skin, where they function as thermotherapy visualization devices to effectively control various amounts of heat transfer depending on the degree of human motion while simultaneously preventing skin burns. This versatile device can treat areas ranging from small finger joints to large wrist joints.

Figure 1 a shows a schematic of the integrated stretchable device, which induces heat generation and color change under tensile strain for thermotherapeutic rehabilitation. When the stretchable device is mounted on a human hand and then deformed by movement of the finger or wrist joints, its electrical resistance changes, inducing changes in its heat generation and color. As the tensile strain in the joint increases, the device generates more heat, and users can detect color changes from dark to bright. In our user‐interactive smart device, a stimuli visualization layer is stacked vertically on the heat generation layer to simultaneously activate heat generation and visualization. As shown in the circuit diagram (Figure  1b ), a constant current ( I ) is supplied to the stretchable device through a power supply to enable joule heating. The variable ( R active ) and fixed ( R electrode ) resistances of the single device were simply induced on the wrinkled film by tuning the AgNW deposition conditions. Figure 1 a) Schematic diagram of the integrated stretchable device inducing heat generation and color change under tensile strain for thermotherapeutic rehabilitation, and working mechanism. b) Circuit diagram for the stretchable device. Our experimental procedure is illustrated in Figure

2 a . This procedure can be divided into three parts: chemical and physical modification of the PDMS substrate, deposition and alignment of the AgNWs, and coating of the thermochromic layer. The random wrinkled substrate with an average wavelength of 50 µm and an amplitude of 15 µm was fabricated by mechanically stretching a PDMS film, followed by UV‐ozone (UVO) exposure and strain release (Figure S1, Supporting Information). The wrinkled surface was selectively hydrophobized using trichloro(1 H ,1 H ,2 H ,2 H ‐perfluorooctyl)silane and a mask of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film (see Supporting Information for more details). The hydrophobic surfaces were selectively formed around the hydrophilic surfaces located in the center of the wrinkled substrate. To characterize the surface chemical atomic states of the wrinkled PDMS substrate influenced by the UVO and silane treatments, we used X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to analyze the variations in the C 1s spectra (Figure  2b ). A C‐F peak is observed in the spectrum of the hydrophobic surface after the –CF 3 treatment, which lowers the surface energy of the PDMS wrinkles. An AgNW solution (0.01 g mL –1 in water) was then dropped onto the wrinkled substrate, including the hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. As evaporation proceeded, the AgNWs (40 nm in diameter, 20–60 µm in length) aligned along the troughs of the hydrophobic wrinkled patterns and randomly deposited throughout the hydrophilic wrinkled substrate. As a result, the active layer with a change in resistance under tensile strain was arranged in parallel between two electrodes. Finally, a thermochromic film comprising a dye (leuco dye, microcapsules 1–10 µm in diameter, Nano I&C) and PDMS was spray‐coated onto the randomly deposited AgNW film. Figure 2 a) Scheme describing the fabrication process comprising chemical and physical modification of the PDMS substrate, deposition and alignment of AgNWs, and coating of the thermochromic layer. b) XPS analysis of partially patterned surface of wrinkled PDMS substrate. Inset: optical microscopy (OM) image of the PDMS wrinkles. c) Sequential OM images of an AgNW‐containing evaporating droplet on the hydrophobic and hydrophilic wrinkled surface. Insets are SEM images of the evaporation‐induced AgNW morphologies (locally aligned and randomly deposited AgNWs) on a PDMS wrinkled substrate with patterned surface energy. d) Cross‐sectional SEM images of the integrated device. To gain insight into the process governing the spontaneous patterning of AgNWs during the drying of droplets on the wrinkled substrate, we investigated the sequential three‐phase contact line (TCL) dynamics of the drying droplets using optical microscopy (Figure  2c ; Figures S2 and S3, Supporting Information). As the droplet of AgNW solution evaporated, the TCL on the hydrophobic surface moved toward the droplet center because of the weak interaction between the liquid and the solid substrate. After the TCL of the droplet moved, the elongated filament morphology of the solution along the wrinkled substrate remained intact, governed by the balance between friction (i.e., pinning) and capillary (i.e., depinning) forces. [

25

] However, when the drying droplet reached the hydrophilic surface, strong interaction with the substrate fixed the TCL until the solution was completely evaporated. The sequential TCL dynamics of the droplet and high specific gravity of the AgNWs selectively aligned (only located on the trough of the wrinkle) or evenly deposited (randomly covered on every part of the wrinkle) AgNWs over a large area depending on the surface energy. The as‐prepared device was fabricated using strain‐responsive AgNW networks and thermochromic dyes in an intrinsically stretchable PDMS elastomer, which acts as a substrate and binder. Remarkably, each layer of the all‐PDMS‐based devices produced no interfacial separation between the AgNWs and thermochromic dyes (Figure  2d ); therefore, these monolithic PDMS composites are especially useful for ultrastable strain‐responsive devices because of their structural robustness with respect to interfacial failure under external strain. The electrical properties of the AgNW arrays were affected by their deposition geometries on the wrinkled substrate. Figure

3 a shows the normalized resistances (Δ R / R 0 , where R

0 is the initial resistance) of each AgNW array as the tensile strain is increased from 0% to 100%. The change in resistance for the randomly deposited AgNWs increases proportionally with increasing the tensile strain. For the selectively aligned AgNWs, however, the resistance is relatively insensitive to stretching [

26

] because of the wavy structure of the locally higher‐density AgNW bundles; furthermore, the long structural contours can absorb stress by extending the wavy structure without accumulating mechanical stress. These results indicate that our solution‐based fabrication method can be used to adjacently create both strain‐sensitive (active) and strain‐insensitive (electrode) parts on a single device. Figure 3 Strain‐responsive performances. a–c) Normalized resistance (Δ R/R

0 ) changes versus uniaxial strain for prepared samples of a) aligned and deposited AgNWs on randomly wrinkled structure, b) randomly deposited AgNWs on various wrinkle geometries (random, zigzag, straight, and flat) (insets: OM images of four cases in wrinkle geometries), and c) optimized performance for stretchable strain sensor. d) Deformation of AgNWs under tensile strain up to 80% with OM and SEM images. e) Temperature changes of the user‐interactive strain sensor in freestanding state as a function of tensile strain. Insets: generated heat change images obtained with an IR camera. f) UV–vis spectroscopy data of the various colors under different strains. Insets are images of color changes recorded with an optical camera. Figure  3b indicates that the sensitivity and stretchability of the randomly deposited AgNW strain sensors can be affected by both the geometry (e.g., random, zigzag, straight) and size of the wrinkle patterns (Figures S4–S6, Supporting Information). To obtain highly sensitive and stretchable strain sensors using the wrinkled substrate, random and small surface wrinkles are desirable. The strain‐sensitive part exhibits two stages of resistance change under tensile strain (Figure  3c ). In the first stage, as the tensile strain increases to the pre‐strain (40%) used to fabricate the wrinkled structures, the surface wrinkles are deformed in a straight line along the strain direction to absorb the stress (Figure  3d ). However, the nano‐sized cracks in the oxide layer on the PDMS substrates grow larger and wider, [

27

] fracturing the AgNWs adhered to the substrate. The AgNW fractures increase the electrical resistance because of disconnection of the current paths. At strains greater than the pre‐strain level (>40%), the microcracks generated in the wrinkled substrate further reduce the current path and slightly increase the resistance. The heating properties of the device were characterized by measuring the time‐dependent temperature as a function of tensile strain under a constant current of 0.04 A (Figure  3e ). The PDMS layer covers the conductive and strain‐sensitive AgNW layer, acting as a thermal insulator against the atmospheric environment. Consequently, the surface temperature of the device can be controlled via strain from room temperature (26 °C) to specific thermotherapy temperatures (33.1 °C for 0%, 38.6 °C for 25%, and 48.5 °C for 50% strain) with a low applied voltage from 0.4 to 0.6 V (i.e., an average low power consumption of 0.02 W). The high strain sensitivity and mechanical stability (Figures S7 and S8, Supporting Information) of the stretchable device show that our fabrication method can be used to create a temperature‐tunable heater with applied mechanical strain. To visualize the heat response to the tensile strain, we adopted a composite of three thermochromic dyes dispersed in PDMS, which enabled a reversible transition activated by different temperatures (from blue to colorless at 31 °C, from magenta to colorless at 35 °C, and from yellow to colorless at 41 °C) between two states of the lactone rings: 1) a low‐energy colored state with an open ring chain; and 2) a higher‐energy colorless state with a closed ring chain. [

6

] When the three thermochromic dyes are mixed together, the color of the mixture is black. As the temperature of the composite film increases above 31 °C, the blue dye becomes transparent, and magenta and yellow remain. After that, when the temperature of the device rises to 35 °C under higher tensile strain, the magenta color disappears, and the device turns yellow. Finally, when the strain is higher, the temperature rises to 41 °C, the color of the device becomes white. In other words, each color disappears independently, and finally no color remains. We characterized the optical tunability of this composite film by measuring its UV–vis reflectance properties as a function of the tensile strain under the same electric current (Figure  3f ). The released film without the current was almost black because of light absorption over the entire visible wavelength range as a result of the mixing of three dye colors. As the device was extended to 50%, the color changed from red (reflected wavelengths of 600–700 nm) to yellow (500–550 nm) to white, reflecting all visible wavelengths of light. These results suggested that both the heat and color of the device could be controlled via the tensile strain. The integrated stretchable device can be attached to a finger joint or wrist for various applications such as human motion detection [

15

] (Figure S9, Supporting Information) and thermotherapy [

18

] ( Figure 4 a ). We designed the temperature range from released state to fully stretched one, attached to the human skin of joints. For clinical applications, the required temperature is above 40 °C, possibly between 40 and 45 °C and maintained for at least 5 min, which is considered sufficient to significantly increase tissue extensibility. [

28

] However, as mentioned above, low‐temperature burns in human skin can be caused by critical temperature and duration time. [

23

] Therefore, the operating temperature of the device on a finger joint skin is designed to be below about 48 °C, which prevents sudden low‐temperature burns with wearable applications. Bending the fingers increased the electrical resistance as the device was deformed, leading to heat generation under a constant and low current bias (0.04 A) from the power supply. The color changes of the optical and thermal images corroborated the heat generation by the device achieved by increasing the degree of bending (Figure  4b ). To measure the effect of its thermotherapeutic rehabilitation on the joint during repeated folding (for 50 s) and unfolding (for 10 s) of the index finger, [

29 , 30 , 31

] we performed a multichannel surface electromyogram (EMG) test on the forearm with and without the as‐prepared device (Figure  4c and Supporting Information). After 5 min of exercise, the EMG signal was increased by only thermotherapy during repeated folding and unfolding of the index finger (with about an 1.5 s cycle), which was attributed to the increase in the range of motion achieved by elongating the extensibility of the connective tissue because of heat. Moreover, the solution‐based fabrication method enables the device to be fabricated in a large size (6 cm × 8 cm) and with an intuitive design for application to a wrist (Figure  4d ; Figure S10, Supporting Information). The “hot” indicator on the device during wrist joint flexion could help prevent low‐temperature burns as well as aid rehabilitation from many wrist diseases such as carpal tunnel and De Quervain syndrome. [

32 , 33 , 34

] Wrist disease is a repetitive strain injury due to repetitive movements, sustained force, awkward postures, and other factors. [

35

] Four pathological mechanisms have been suggested for this tendinitis disease: decrease in tendon elasticity; friction between tendon and tendon sheath; tendon fatigue; and increase in mechanically induced local temperature. For these reasons, the management of tissue elasticity or extensibility is essential to prevent or rehabilitate this kind of disease. Utilizing heat and stretch is the most effective method for increasing tissue extensibility. [

19

] Therefore, the use of our therapeutic device on a frequently used wrist allows heat and stretching to work simultaneously by joint movement, which results in the increase of tissue extensibility as well as the avoidance of repetitive strain injury. Figure 4 a) Photograph of the real device attached to the index finger. b) Heat and color changes of the stretchable device observed with IR and optical cameras. c) EMG signals with finger motions with and without device before and after exercise. Inset: positions of the EMG detection electrodes on the forearm. d) Large‐scale application of the device to joint movement (extension and flexion) of the wrist. In conclusion, we demonstrated an ultrastable, stretchable, thermochromic, and thermotherapeutic device using strain‐responsive AgNW networks and thermochromic dyes in an intrinsically stretchable PDMS elastomer, which functions as both a substrate and a binder. Spontaneous patterning of AgNWs onto PDMS surfaces with surface energy‐patterned wrinkles enables control of the electrical performance of stretchable devices such as electrodes or active parts. This approach can be extended to prepare oxidation‐resistant devices by using noble metal nanowires. [

36 , 37

] Furthermore, a thermochromic film on a stretchable strain sensor with the same current bias can undergo a color change under different external tensile strains. The high sensitivity and stretchability of the device enable it to adaptively interface with living tissue. We speculate that the device mounted on the finger and wrist joints can be used in various applications such as a user‐interactive motion detector and a thermotherapy device. The device changes its temperature and color at different levels of joint flexion, effectively controlling the amount of heat transfer to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons of the joint as well as preventing skin burns. Integrating the stretchable strain sensor and a joule‐heater enables further application in enhancing the extensibility of injured tissue for rehabilitation patients. Conflict of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. Supporting information Supporting Information Click here for additional data file. Acknowledgements This work was supported by a grant (code no. 2012M3A6A5055728) from the Center for Advanced Soft Electronics under the Global Frontier Research Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea. All procedures were approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea (PIRB‐2020‐E017). Written informed consents were obtained from all subjects. 1

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# 基于可拉伸热致变色应变传感器的用户交互型热疗电子皮肤

具有可辨识输出的用户交互型电子皮肤(e-skin)在人机接口和医疗健康应用方面展现出巨大潜力。尽管用户交互型电子皮肤已取得诸多进展,但可视化用户交互型热疗电子皮肤的发展仍然较为罕见。本文报道了一种用户交互型热疗器件,该器件通过将热致变色复合材料与可拉伸应变传感器相结合而制备,其中应变传感器由位于表面能图案化微褶皱上的应变响应型银纳米线网络构成。器件的颜色和热量均可通过施加机械应变所引起的电阻变化进行简便调控。所制备的单片器件在光学反射率和温度方面表现出显著变化,具有耐久性、快速响应、高拉伸性和线性灵敏度。该方法为制备动态交互型热疗电子皮肤提供了一条低技术门槛的途径,可有效用于损伤结缔组织的康复治疗,同时通过同步实现拉伸、供热和颜色变化来防止皮肤烫伤。

用户交互型热疗电子皮肤(e-skin)通过将热致变色复合材料与可拉伸应变传感器集成制备而成,其中应变传感器由位于表面能图案化微褶皱上的应变响应型银纳米线网络构成。器件的颜色和热量均可通过外部机械应变引起的电阻变化进行简便调控。该电子皮肤可应用于有效治疗结缔组织损伤,同时避免皮肤烫伤。

用户交互型器件能够响应外部刺激(即应变、压力、化学物质、光和温度)而改变其颜色、透明度和形状,使用户能够直观感知这些刺激。这些视觉变化为电子皮肤(e-skin)、智能窗户和软机器人等器件提供了多功能平台,使其能够在多种不同刺激下与用户进行交互。最重要的是,用户交互型电子皮肤可贴附于可活动部位,并能对环境刺激做出响应。因此,电子皮肤在人体运动检测、健康监测和人机接口等方面具有广泛的应用前景。可贴附皮肤的治疗器件也取得了显著进展,能够动态实施人体实时治疗。然而,可视化用户交互型热疗器件尚未得到验证,此前开发的治疗器件大多通过将单个传感器和治疗组件进行复杂集成而制备。因此,开发一种简便可控的用户交互型热疗器件制备方法是一个理想目标。

热疗是缓解和治疗结缔组织损伤的最简便方法之一。为有效治疗和康复受损结缔组织,必须同时施加热量和拉伸。因此,研究人员近期开发了基于可拉伸导电材料的可拉伸热疗器件。例如,欧阳团队利用本征导电聚(3,4-乙烯二氧噻吩):聚(苯乙烯磺酸)、弹性体水性聚氨酯和还原氧化石墨烯的复合材料制备了高度可拉伸电热加热器,该加热器在高达30%的拉伸应变下可产生与未拉伸时几乎相同的热量。Kim团队开发了一种基于银纳米线(AgNWs)和热塑性弹性体可拉伸纳米复合材料的柔性、轻薄可拉伸加热器,即使在运动过程中也能有效将热量传递至曲面关节。然而,上述器件仅展示了通过施加电源或微控制器单元附加电路实现的热量控制。它们不能响应热量产生视觉变化,而这正是用户交互型热疗器件的关键特征。人体皮肤无法识别绝对温度,且容易适应持续热量。长时间对施加热量会导致皮肤低温烫伤:44°C(6小时)、45°C(3小时)、48°C(15分钟)和52°C(1分钟)。因此,开发一种可拉伸形态的可视化热疗器件具有十分重要的意义。

本文展示了一种用户交互型可视化温度加热器,由热致变色薄膜与可拉伸应变传感器集成构成。据我们所知,尽管基于AgNWs网络和结构化弹性体衬底的可拉伸器件已被广泛用作可拉伸应变传感器或加热器,但尚未有将高可拉伸应变传感器与加热器集成用于热疗的尝试。本工作中开发的可拉伸加热器由位于褶皱聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)薄膜上的高渗透AgNWs网络构成。当施加拉伸应变时,褶皱的几何结构和AgNWs的渗透网络发生变化,导致薄膜电阻增大。该行为产生大量热量并传递至热致变色层,引起颜色变化。该器件可承受高达100%的应变,并能在拉伸/释放条件下经受1000次重复机械应变(50%)循环。这些智能器件贴附于人体皮肤后,可作为热疗可视化器件,根据人体运动程度有效控制不同的热量传递量,同时防止皮肤烫伤。该多功能器件可应用于从小型指关节到大型腕关节等不同部位。

图1a展示了集成可拉伸器件的示意图,该器件在拉伸应变下产生热量和颜色变化,用于热疗康复。当可拉伸器件贴附于人手并因指关节或腕关节运动而发生形变时,其电阻发生变化,从而引起产热和颜色变化。随着关节拉伸应变的增加,器件产生更多热量,用户可观察到颜色从暗到亮的变化。在我们所开发的用户交互型智能器件中,刺激可视化层垂直堆叠于产热层之上,以同时激活产热和可视化功能。如图1b电路图所示,通过电源向可拉伸器件提供恒定电流(I)以实现焦耳加热。通过调节AgNWs沉积条件,在褶皱薄膜上简单地引入可变电阻(R_active)和固定电阻(R_electrode)。

图1 a) 集成可拉伸器件在拉伸应变下产生热量和颜色变化用于热疗康复的示意图及工作原理;b) 可拉伸器件的电路图。

实验流程如图2a所示,可分为三个部分:PDMS衬底的化学和物理改性、AgNWs的沉积与排列,以及热致变色层的涂覆。通过机械拉伸PDMS薄膜,随后进行紫外臭氧(UVO)处理并释放应变,制备出平均波长为50 μm、振幅为15 μm的随机褶皱衬底(图S1,支持信息)。使用三氯(1H,1H,2H,2H-全氟辛基)硅烷和聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET)薄膜掩模对褶皱表面进行选择性疏水化处理(详见支持信息)。疏水表面选择性地形成于位于褶皱衬底中心区域的亲水表面周围。为表征受UVO和硅烷处理影响的褶皱PDMS衬底表面化学原子态,我们采用X射线光电子能谱(XPS)分析C 1s谱的变化(图2b)。经-CF3处理后,疏水表面光谱中观察到C-F峰,降低了PDMS褶皱的表面能。

随后将AgNW水溶液(0.01 g mL⁻¹)滴加至包含疏水表面和亲水表面的褶皱衬底上。随着蒸发进行,AgNWs(直径40 nm,长度20-60 μm)沿疏水褶皱图案的沟槽方向排列,并在亲水褶皱衬底上随机沉积。因此,在拉伸应变下电阻发生变化的有源层被平行排列于两个电极之间。最后,将包含染料(隐色染料,微胶囊直径1-10 μm,Nano I&C)和PDMS的热致变色薄膜喷涂于随机沉积的AgNWs薄膜上。

图2 a) 制备工艺示意图,包括PDMS衬底的化学和物理改性、AgNWs的沉积与排列以及热致变色层的涂覆;b) 褶皱PDMS衬底部分图案化表面的XPS分析。插图:PDMS褶皱的光学显微镜(OM)图像;c) 含AgNW液滴在疏水和亲水褶皱表面上蒸发的连续OM图像。插图为蒸发诱导的AgNW形貌SEM图像(局部排列和随机沉积的AgNWs)在具有图案化表面能的PDMS褶皱衬底上;d) 集成器件的截面SEM图像。

为深入了解液滴在褶皱衬底上干燥过程中AgNW自发图案化的机理,我们利用光学显微镜研究了干燥液滴的连续三相接触线(TCL)动力学(图2c;图S2和S3,支持信息)。随着AgNW溶液液滴的蒸发,由于液体与固体衬底之间的相互作用较弱,疏水表面上的TCL向液滴中心移动。液滴TCL移动后,溶液沿褶皱衬底的细长丝状形貌保持完整,受摩擦力(即钉扎)和毛细力(即去钉扎)之间的平衡所支配。然而,当干燥液滴到达亲水表面时,与衬底的强相互作用将TCL固定,直至溶液完全蒸发。液滴的连续TCL动力学以及AgNWs的高比重使得AgNW根据表面能选择性地排列(仅位于褶皱沟槽处)或均匀沉积(随机覆盖褶皱各部分)于大面积区域。

所制备的器件采用应变响应型AgNW网络和热致变色染料,以本征可拉伸PDMS弹性体作为衬底和粘结剂。值得注意的是,全PDMS基器件的各层在AgNWs与热致变色染料之间未出现界面分离(图2d);因此,这些单片PDMS复合材料由于其在外部应变下对界面失效具有结构稳健性,特别适用于超稳定应变响应型器件。

AgNW阵列的电学性能受其沉积几何结构的影响。图3a展示了当拉伸应变从0%增至100%时,各AgNW阵列的归一化电阻(ΔR/R₀,其中R₀为初始电阻)变化。随机沉积的AgNWs的电阻变化随拉伸应变的增加而成比例增大。然而,选择性排列的AgNWs对应变相对不敏感,这是因为局部高密度AgNW束的波浪形结构可以吸收应力,通过延伸波浪形结构而不累积机械应力。这些结果表明,我们的溶液基制备方法可用于在同一器件上相邻创建应变敏感(有源)和应变不敏感(电极)部分。

图3 应变响应性能。a-c) 制备样品的归一化电阻(ΔR/R₀)随单轴应变的变化:a) 在随机褶皱结构上排列和沉积的AgNWs,b) 在不同褶皱几何结构(随机、锯齿、直线和平坦)上随机沉积的AgNWs(插图:四种褶皱几何结构的OM图像),c) 可拉伸应变传感器的优化性能。d) AgNW在高达80%拉伸应变下的形变OM和SEM图像。e) 用户交互型应变传感器在自由状态下温度随拉伸应变的变化函数。插图:通过红外相机获取的产热变化图像。f) 不同应变下各种颜色的紫外-可见光谱数据。插图:通过光学相机记录的颜色变化图像。

图3b表明,随机沉积AgNW应变传感器的灵敏度和拉伸性受褶皱图案的几何结构(如随机、锯齿、直线)和尺寸的影响(图S4-S6,支持信息)。为利用褶皱衬底获得高灵敏度和可拉伸的应变传感器,宜采用随机且小尺寸的表面褶皱。应变敏感部分在拉伸应变下呈现两个阶段的电阻变化(图3c)。在第一阶段,当拉伸应变增加至制备褶皱结构时使用的预应变(40%)时,表面褶皱沿应变方向变直以吸收应力(图3d)。然而,PDMS衬底上氧化物层中的纳米裂纹逐渐扩大和加宽,导致粘附于衬底的AgNWs断裂。AgNW断裂因电流路径断开而增大电阻。当应变超过预应变水平(>40%)时,褶皱衬底中产生的微裂纹进一步减小电流路径,使电阻略有增加。

通过测量在0.04 A恒定电流下温度随拉伸应变的时间依赖性变化来表征器件的加热性能(图3e)。PDMS层覆盖导电且应变敏感的AgNW层,充当针对大气环境的热绝缘体。因此,器件表面温度可通过应变从室温(26°C)调控至特定热疗温度(0%应变下33.1°C,25%应变下38.6°C,50%应变下48.5°C),施加电压低至0.4至0.6 V(即平均低功耗0.02 W)。可拉伸器件的高应变灵敏度和机械稳定性(图S7和S8,支持信息)表明,我们的制备方法可用于创建通过施加机械应变调控温度的可调加热器。

为可视化拉伸应变下的热响应,我们采用了分散在PDMS中的三种热致变色染料复合材料,该复合材料可在不同温度下实现可逆转变(31°C时从蓝色变为无色,35°C时从品红色变为无色,41°C时从黄色变为无色),对应于内酯环的两种状态:1)具有开环链的低能着色态;和2)具有闭环链的高能无色态。当三种热致变色染料混合时,混合物呈黑色。随着复合薄膜温度升高至31°C以上,蓝色染料变为透明,品红色和黄色保持不变。随后,当器件在更高拉伸应变下温度升至35°C时,品红色消失,器件变为黄色。最后,当应变更高时,温度升至41°C,器件颜色变为白色。换言之,每种颜色独立消失,最终不保留任何颜色。

我们通过测量在相同电流下紫外-可见反射率随拉伸应变的变化来表征该复合薄膜的光学可调性(图3f)。未通电释放的薄膜由于三种染料颜色混合而在整个可见波长范围内吸收光线,几乎呈黑色。当器件拉伸至50%时,颜色从红色(反射波长600-700 nm)变为黄色(500-550 nm)再变为白色,反射所有可见波长的光。这些结果表明,器件的热量和颜色均可通过拉伸应变进行调控。

集成可拉伸器件可贴附于指关节或腕关节,用于多种应用,如人体运动检测(图S9,支持信息)和热疗(图4a)。我们将温度范围设计为从释放状态到完全拉伸状态,贴附于人体关节皮肤。对于临床应用,所需温度需高于40°C,可能在40至45°C之间,并维持至少5分钟,这被认为足以显著增加组织延展性。然而,如上所述,人体皮肤低温烫伤可由临界温度和持续时间引起。因此,器件在指关节皮肤上的工作温度设计为约48°C以下,以防止可穿戴应用中的突发性低温烫伤。

弯曲手指使器件发生形变,导致电阻增加,从而在电源提供的恒定低电流偏置(0.04 A)下产生热量。光学和热成像的颜色变化证实了器件通过增加弯曲程度实现的产热(图4b)。为测量热疗康复在食指反复屈曲(50秒)和伸展(10秒)过程中对关节的影响,我们在有和未贴附所制备器件的情况下对前臂进行了多通道表面肌电图(EMG)测试(图4c和支持信息)。运动5分钟后,仅在反复屈曲和伸展食指(周期约1.5秒)期间进行热疗时EMG信号增强,这归因于热量增加结缔组织延展性所实现的运动范围增大。

此外,溶液基制备方法使器件可制成大尺寸(6 cm × 8 cm)并采用直观设计以应用于腕关节(图4d;图S10,支持信息)。腕关节屈曲期间器件上的"热"指示标识有助于防止低温烫伤,并辅助腕管综合征和De Quervain综合征等多种腕部疾病的康复。腕部疾病是由于重复性运动、持续用力、不良姿势及其他因素导致的重复性劳损。该肌腱炎疾病有四种病理机制:肌腱弹性降低;肌腱与肌腱鞘之间的摩擦;肌腱疲劳;以及机械诱导的局部温度升高。因此,管理组织弹性或延展性对于预防或康复此类疾病至关重要。利用热量和拉伸是增加组织延展性最有效的方法。因此,将我们的治疗器件应用于频繁使用的腕部,可通过关节运动使热量和拉伸同时作用,从而增加组织延展性并避免重复性劳损。

图4 a) 贴附于食指的实物器件照片;b) 通过红外和光学相机观察到的可拉伸器件的热量和颜色变化;c) 运动前后有和无器件情况下手指运动的EMG信号。插图:前臂上EMG检测电极的位置;d) 器件在腕关节运动(伸展和屈曲)中的大面积应用。

总之,我们展示了一种超稳定、可拉伸、热致变色型热疗器件,该器件采用应变响应型AgNW网络和热致变色染料,以本征可拉伸PDMS弹性体作为衬底和粘结剂。AgNWs在具有表面能图案化褶皱的PDMS表面上的自发图案化实现了对可拉伸器件(如电极或有源部分)电学性能的调控。该方法可扩展至使用贵金属纳米线制备抗氧化器件。此外,在相同电流偏压下,可拉伸应变传感器上的热致变色薄膜可在不同外部拉伸应变下发生颜色变化。器件的高灵敏度和拉伸性使其能够与活体组织自适应界面结合。我们推测,贴附于指关节和腕关节的器件可用于多种应用,如用户交互型运动检测器和热疗器件。器件在不同关节屈曲水平下改变温度和颜色,有效控制传递至关节肌肉、韧带和腱腱的热量,同时防止皮肤烫伤。将可拉伸应变传感器与焦耳加热器集成,可进一步应用于增强损伤组织延展性以辅助患者康复。

**利益冲突**

作者声明无利益冲突。

**支持信息**

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**致谢**

本研究得到韩国科学与信息通信技术部全球前沿研究计划先进软电子中心资助(项目编号:2012M3A6A5055728)。所有程序均经韩国浦项科技大学研究伦理委员会批准(PIRB-2020-E017)。所有受试者均签署书面知情同意书。