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Jing Yu

Jing Yu is an Associate Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2012 from the University of California, Santa Barbara with Prof Jacob Israelachvili, followed by a postdoc at Caltech and a postdoc at the University of Chicago. In 2017, he became an Assistant Professor at NTU. He is a Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) Fellow, Class of 2019, which allows him to explore interdisciplinary research in Singapore. Dr. Yu's primary research interests lie in the characterization of dynamic properties of biological and bio-inspired materials with hierarchical structures. He aspires to gain molecular-level control of soft materials, enabling him to design integrated, multifunctional materials and interfaces. 

Developing Hydrogel Materials for Epidermal Sweat Sensors

Jing Yu1,*

 1 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore (E-mail: yujing@ntu.edu.sg)

Abstract

The adhesion between flexible epidermal sensors and human skin is essential for maintaining the stable functionality of the sensors. However, it is still challenging for epidermal electronic devices to achieve durable adhesion to the surface of the skin, especially under sweaty or humid conditions. Here, we report a silk fibroin - polyacrylamide (SF-PAAm) double network (DN) hydrogel adhesive with excellent biocompatibility, strong and durable adhesion on wet surfaces, and tunable adhesive properties. The hydrophilic PAAm network greatly improves the water retention capability of the DN hydrogel and reduces the β-sheet crystalline content of the SF, leading to excellent adhesive properties of the hydrogel across a wide range of humidity. The SF-PAAm DN hydrogel adhesive can be readily integrated with different epidermal sensor arrays and performs very well in real-time on-body sweat sensing. The SF-PAAm DN hydrogels have great potential for various epidermal healthcare sensors as well as medical adhesives for other medical applications.  

References 

[1] Wang J., Zhang N., Fu F., Tan Y, Liu G., Fan Y., Zhang X., Cheng Y., and Yu J. Sweat Resistant silk fibroin-based double network hydrogel adhesives. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2022, 14(19), 21945-21953..

[2] Fu F., Wang J., and Yu J. Interpenetrating PAA-PEDOT Conductive Hydrogels for Flexible Skin Sensors.  Journal of Materials Chemistry C 2021, 9(35), 11794-11800.