Scalable method creates self-healing, stretchable transistors and circuits

Recent technological advances have enabled the development of a wide range of increasingly sophisticated wearable and implantable devices, which can be used to monitor physiological signals or intervene with high precision in therapeutically targeted regions of the body. As these devices, particularly implantable ones, are typically designed to remain in changing biological environments for long periods of time, they should be biocompatible and capable of fixing themselves after they are damaged.

Researchers at Sungkyunkwan University, the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and other institutes in South Korea recently devised a new method to fabricate self-healing and stretchable electronic components that could be integrated into these devices. Their approach, outlined in a paper published in Nature Electronics, enables the scalable and reconfigurable assembly of self-healing and stretchable transistors into highly performing integrated systems.

“Since the mid-2000s, the development of flexible and stretchable electronics has significantly revolutionized research fields such as artificial electronic skin and soft implantable bioelectronics,” Donghee Son, senior author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.

“Despite this progress, maintaining device performance during long-term external attachment remains challenging due to mechanical fatigue and damage from repeated movements and external impacts. Additionally, reconfiguring already fabricated flexible electronic devices to meet user-specific needs has been inherently impossible.”

A further challenge associated with the development of implantable electronics is ensuring that these devices maintain their electrical characteristics over time, particularly in wet and dynamic biological environments. Son and his colleagues set out to overcome this challenge by designing self-healing and stretchable materials with advantageous electronic properties, and then devised a method to integrate them into circuits.

“Human skin naturally repairs itself after injury, restoring its original mechanical properties and its capability to precisely sense external stimuli and transmit sensory information to the brain,” explained Son.

“Inspired by this self-healing functionality, this research incorporates stretchable and self-healing properties into all three critical layers of a transistor: the dielectric insulation layer, semiconductor layer, and electrode layers (gate, source, and drain). Utilizing the self-healing capability of these transistors, users can effectively reconfigure logic gates, active matrices, and display arrays according to their specific requirements.”

The scalable method to create self-healing stretchable transistors and circuits introduced by the researchers could support the development of implantable devices that can measure electrophysiological signals in the brain, vagus nerve, spinal cord, peripheral nerve and even heart tissues. These devices could open new possibilities for the treatment and diagnosis of a wide range of diseases.

“To realize a self-healing and stretchable integrated modular system, key materials such as self-healing polymers, conductive nanomaterials, and organic semiconductors are essential,” said Son.

“First, the semiconductor layer of the transistor can be simply fabricated by blending a self-healing polymer with an organic semiconductor, followed by spin-coating. This process induces spontaneous vertical phase separation, which effectively prevents performance degradation under external strain. Even if physical damage occurs, the reconstruction between organic polymer chains allows the device to maintain its electrical and mechanical properties.”

Son and his colleagues proposed fabricating each functional layer of electronics devices, including insulating films, electrodes and semiconductor layers, over large areas via a process known as transfer-printing. This approach can be easily scaled up and used to fabricate large-area stretchable modular systems, which can then be integrated with touch sensors, active matrices and displays.

Using the team’s proposed printing method, the stretchable and self-healing transistors they developed can be easily re-assembled, just like LEGO blocks, to produce systems that are best suited for specific applications. In initial tests, the researchers showed that their transistors, fabricated using self-healing polymer substrates with excellent insulation and biocompatibility, maintained a stable electrical performance for long periods of time after being implanted in living animals.

“To date, no system-level bioelectronics have been developed that integrate self-healing capabilities, stretchability, and in vivo implantability; this study is the first to demonstrate the potential for such systems,” said Son.

“For human augmentation, next-generation neuroprosthetic systems are required that can acquire neural signals through advanced high-density electrode arrays implanted in the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, amplify and process these signals, and deliver electrical stimulation via closed-loop feedback. A critical prerequisite for these systems is stable operation without performance degradation over extended periods.”

A further advantage of devices fabricated using the team’s approach is their modular and reconfigurable nature. This characteristic enables both their customization in alignment with the preferences or needs of users and their removal or replacement via a plug-and-play-like attachment should their performance significantly decline.

In the future, the scalable approach for fabricating stretchable and self-healing integrated circuits introduced by Son and his colleagues could be improved further and used to develop promising new implantable or wearable biomedical devices, as well as prosthetics. Eventually, systems developed using their proposed method could be tested in pre-clinical and clinical trials, to ensure their safety and validate their real-world potential.

“These advancements are anticipated to serve as a cornerstone in the evolving field of human augmentation technologies,” added Son. “In our next studies, we will focus on improving the electrical performance of self-healing and stretchable modular integrated systems.

“Specifically, we aim to optimize key parameters such as semiconductor mobility and electrode conductivity to enable high-speed circuit operation. Additionally, we plan to develop circuits capable of acquiring high-quality electrophysiological signals in vivo. Building upon these advancements, our ultimate goal is to develop personalized systems for the diagnosis and treatment of brain and heart-related diseases.”

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