| Popis: |
Soft electronics have attracted enormous attentions in the growing field of bioelectronic integration. Among the various material choices, hydrogels are of particular interest due to their intrinsic similarities with biological tissues. However, challenges still remain for the fabrication of hydrogel electronics, especially those featuring 3D form-factors to conform with the complex biological environment. Here we develop a set of materials which allows for the first time, fully 3D printing of soft electronics featuring soft circuits with arbitrary form factors embedded within soft hydrogel matrix. We design an embedded 3D printing (EM3DP) technology with a curable, ultra-soft (< 5 kPa) and stretchable (λ ~ 18) hydrogel matrix by employing packed hydrogel microparticles possessing a secondary crosslinking capability, and a highly conductive (~1.4×103 S/cm) Ag–hydrogel composite with a segregated conductive network structure. We fabricate various hydrogel-based passive electronics and demonstrate their functionalities. Furthermore, discrete surface-mount components can be readily picked-and-placed at any pre-determined position within the hydrogel matrix and connected with printed passive structures through a highly automated process, thereby greatly expanding the soft electronic functionalities. This work demonstrates the versatility of EM3DP for the future manufacturing of hydrogel-based 3D electronics. |
