Coordinated Skin‐Electrode Deformation for Switchable Adhesion and Injury‐Free Detachment of Epidermal Electrodes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Human‐machine interfaces require thin and conformal epidermal electrodes to detect physiological signals from the human body. A key challenge of such epidermal electrodes is to combine two contradictory but highly desired properties: stable electrode‐skin adhesion that enables high‐fidelity signal acquisition, and poor adhesion for easy and injury‐free removal. Here, we report a soft conducting electrode that well combines the two contradictory properties by tailoring a T‐shaped finger and a U‐shaped finger and by tuning the stickiness to a mild level. When peeling from the U‐finger to the T‐finger, the two fingers “pinch” the skin with a large co‐deformation between the skin and the electrode for enhanced adhesion. When peeling back, the U‐finger is disabled, and the electrode behaves like a non‐patterned layer that exhibits poor adhesion for easy detachment. The kirigami‐enabled co‐deformation of bilayer soft system with a thin surface and thick substrate for switchable adhesion and low interfacial damage might be extended to other human‐machine interfaces and beyond.