Strain-resilient intrinsically stretchable electrochemical biointerfaces.
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| Title: | Strain-resilient intrinsically stretchable electrochemical biointerfaces. |
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| Authors: | Xu, Yadong (AUTHOR), Ma, Xiaotian (AUTHOR), Fan, Kexin (AUTHOR), Min, Jihong (AUTHOR), Qu, Jin (AUTHOR), Heng, Wenzheng (AUTHOR), Li, Jiahong (AUTHOR), Tang, Songsong (AUTHOR), Kim, Gwangmook (AUTHOR), Liu, Ruixiao (AUTHOR), Yin, Shukun (AUTHOR), Li, Wenjian (AUTHOR), Gao, Wei (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Science. 5/28/2026, Vol. 392 Issue 6801, p1-13. 13p. |
| Subjects: | Bioelectronics, Stretching of materials, Electrochemical sensors, Tissues, Artificial implants, Wearable technology, Chemical detectors |
| Abstract: | Stretchable bioelectronics promise seamless integration with dynamic tissues, yet their electrochemical performance often collapses under strain owing to cracking, interlayer delamination, and signal distortion. We introduce an intrinsically stretchable interface for resilient electrochemical sensing (SIRES) built from a strain-resilient conductor, an electrically tunable interlayer, and a stretchable functional coating. By offsetting strain-induced resistance increases with gains in active surface area, SIRES maintains near-constant resistance and high-fidelity electrochemical readouts under strains up to 300%. The platform supports voltammetric, potentiometric, and amperometric modalities and enables multiplexed molecular monitoring across dynamically deforming tissues in wearable and implantable formats. Its unified architecture provides delamination-resistant interfaces suitable for long-term use, and the design rules generalize to affinity-based transduction, establishing a pathway toward strain-resilient molecular sensing for precision diagnostics and therapy. Editor's summary: The development of stretchable and foldable materials for bioelectronics has made it possible to fabricate soft, compliant devices for minimally obtrusive biomedical health monitoring. These devices work well with optical or electrical signals but less well when chemical sensing is also required because mechanical distortion of the device can affect these signals in different ways. Xu et al. integrated liquid metals, carbon nanotube–polyurethane composites, and soft functional coatings to achieve strain-resilient molecular sensing in both wearable and implantable configurations. The system maintains stable electrochemical readouts under up to 300% strain. Through modeling and validation studies, including in animals and humans, the authors demonstrated multimodal sensing for a diverse range of analytes. —Marc S. Lavine INTRODUCTION: Stretchable bioelectronics enable intimate integration with soft, dynamic tissues and have advanced physical health monitoring by maintaining conformal contact during motion. Extending these advantages to chemical sensing is challenging because electrochemical readouts depend on coupled electrical transport and interfacial reactions, both of which are readily compromised by mechanical deformation. In practice, stretching alters resistance of the electrical circuit, changes the electrochemically active surface area, and modulates interfacial kinetics and mass transport, which together distort voltammetric and amperometric signatures and introduce baseline drift. These deformation-induced artifacts are especially problematic on tissues that undergo large, continuous shape changes—such as skin during daily activity and gastrointestinal organs during peristalsis and distension—where even modest signal instability can compromise quantitative biomarker interpretation. Consequently, reliable molecular sensing on dynamic tissues has remained limited, restricting biomarker-driven wearable and implantable systems that aim to move beyond physical vital signs toward continuous, chemistry-based health monitoring. RATIONALE: For soft, stretchable bioelectronics, robust molecular readouts on moving tissues are challenging. Platforms may rely on nonstretchable substrates or brittle conductors that crack, delaminate, and lose electrical and electrochemical integrity under strain. Deformation further perturbs electrode morphology, electroactive surface area, and ion transport, and functional coatings can fracture or detach, collectively distorting waveforms and degrading fidelity. We reasoned that strain-resilient electrochemical sensing requires a coupled materials-and-circuit strategy that preserves charge transport and electrochemical access during deformation. Accordingly, we designed a fully elastomeric, intrinsically stretchable trilayer interface that offsets strain-induced resistance increases with gains in electroactive area to maintain near-constant total resistance and preserve signal fidelity. RESULTS: We developed a strain-resilient, intrinsically stretchable interface for resilient electrochemical sensing (SIRES) comprising three elastomeric layers: a phase-separated liquid-metal conductor that preserves charge transport, an electrically tunable carbon nanotube–polyurethane interlayer that regulates electromechanical coupling, and a stretchable functional coating that stabilizes bioactive sensing elements. Finite-element analysis and experimental measurements show that stretching slightly increases the active surface area, lowers interfacial impedance, and raises circuit resistance, consistent with modified Randles modeling. We engineered an interface that preserves stable voltammetric, potentiometric, and amperometric signatures under strains up to 300%. We covalently integrated all functional layers within a unified elastomeric architecture that resists delamination and suppresses cracking, sustaining performance during cyclic stretching. We demonstrated modality generality by integrating voltammetric (uric acid), amperometric (glucose, lactate, and hydrogen peroxide), and potentiometric (pH) sensors, together with stretchable counter and reference electrodes, all of which retained stable performance under large strain. Using these components, we assembled a fully stretchable multiplexed wearable system for strain-resilient sweat monitoring, enabling real-time on-body biochemical profiling during exercise across multiple sites. When translated to organ-interfaced applications, the platform maintained conformal contact and robust readouts under organ-level motion, including demonstrations on dynamically deforming tissues and disease-relevant in vivo measurements. CONCLUSION: This work establishes a general materials-and-circuit strategy for strain-resilient electrochemical sensing. The covalently integrated, all-elastomer architecture conforms to dynamic tissues, and the underlying design rules are extensible to affinity-based modalities and closed-loop bioelectronic systems, enabling strain-insensitive chemical monitoring for wearable and implantable precision diagnostics and therapy. Strain-resilient electrochemical sensing on dynamic soft tissues.: An intrinsically stretchable SIRES sensor patch conforms to a deforming organ surface and maintains a stable electrochemical readout during soft-tissue motion. Whereas deformation typically distorts signals by changing circuit resistance and interfacial electrochemistry, SIRES preserves electrochemical signal fidelity under strain, enabling reliable molecular sensing on moving tissues. [Figure created with BioRender.com] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Stretchable bioelectronics promise seamless integration with dynamic tissues, yet their electrochemical performance often collapses under strain owing to cracking, interlayer delamination, and signal distortion. We introduce an intrinsically stretchable interface for resilient electrochemical sensing (SIRES) built from a strain-resilient conductor, an electrically tunable interlayer, and a stretchable functional coating. By offsetting strain-induced resistance increases with gains in active surface area, SIRES maintains near-constant resistance and high-fidelity electrochemical readouts under strains up to 300%. The platform supports voltammetric, potentiometric, and amperometric modalities and enables multiplexed molecular monitoring across dynamically deforming tissues in wearable and implantable formats. Its unified architecture provides delamination-resistant interfaces suitable for long-term use, and the design rules generalize to affinity-based transduction, establishing a pathway toward strain-resilient molecular sensing for precision diagnostics and therapy. Editor's summary: The development of stretchable and foldable materials for bioelectronics has made it possible to fabricate soft, compliant devices for minimally obtrusive biomedical health monitoring. These devices work well with optical or electrical signals but less well when chemical sensing is also required because mechanical distortion of the device can affect these signals in different ways. Xu et al. integrated liquid metals, carbon nanotube–polyurethane composites, and soft functional coatings to achieve strain-resilient molecular sensing in both wearable and implantable configurations. The system maintains stable electrochemical readouts under up to 300% strain. Through modeling and validation studies, including in animals and humans, the authors demonstrated multimodal sensing for a diverse range of analytes. —Marc S. Lavine INTRODUCTION: Stretchable bioelectronics enable intimate integration with soft, dynamic tissues and have advanced physical health monitoring by maintaining conformal contact during motion. Extending these advantages to chemical sensing is challenging because electrochemical readouts depend on coupled electrical transport and interfacial reactions, both of which are readily compromised by mechanical deformation. In practice, stretching alters resistance of the electrical circuit, changes the electrochemically active surface area, and modulates interfacial kinetics and mass transport, which together distort voltammetric and amperometric signatures and introduce baseline drift. These deformation-induced artifacts are especially problematic on tissues that undergo large, continuous shape changes—such as skin during daily activity and gastrointestinal organs during peristalsis and distension—where even modest signal instability can compromise quantitative biomarker interpretation. Consequently, reliable molecular sensing on dynamic tissues has remained limited, restricting biomarker-driven wearable and implantable systems that aim to move beyond physical vital signs toward continuous, chemistry-based health monitoring. RATIONALE: For soft, stretchable bioelectronics, robust molecular readouts on moving tissues are challenging. Platforms may rely on nonstretchable substrates or brittle conductors that crack, delaminate, and lose electrical and electrochemical integrity under strain. Deformation further perturbs electrode morphology, electroactive surface area, and ion transport, and functional coatings can fracture or detach, collectively distorting waveforms and degrading fidelity. We reasoned that strain-resilient electrochemical sensing requires a coupled materials-and-circuit strategy that preserves charge transport and electrochemical access during deformation. Accordingly, we designed a fully elastomeric, intrinsically stretchable trilayer interface that offsets strain-induced resistance increases with gains in electroactive area to maintain near-constant total resistance and preserve signal fidelity. RESULTS: We developed a strain-resilient, intrinsically stretchable interface for resilient electrochemical sensing (SIRES) comprising three elastomeric layers: a phase-separated liquid-metal conductor that preserves charge transport, an electrically tunable carbon nanotube–polyurethane interlayer that regulates electromechanical coupling, and a stretchable functional coating that stabilizes bioactive sensing elements. Finite-element analysis and experimental measurements show that stretching slightly increases the active surface area, lowers interfacial impedance, and raises circuit resistance, consistent with modified Randles modeling. We engineered an interface that preserves stable voltammetric, potentiometric, and amperometric signatures under strains up to 300%. We covalently integrated all functional layers within a unified elastomeric architecture that resists delamination and suppresses cracking, sustaining performance during cyclic stretching. We demonstrated modality generality by integrating voltammetric (uric acid), amperometric (glucose, lactate, and hydrogen peroxide), and potentiometric (pH) sensors, together with stretchable counter and reference electrodes, all of which retained stable performance under large strain. Using these components, we assembled a fully stretchable multiplexed wearable system for strain-resilient sweat monitoring, enabling real-time on-body biochemical profiling during exercise across multiple sites. When translated to organ-interfaced applications, the platform maintained conformal contact and robust readouts under organ-level motion, including demonstrations on dynamically deforming tissues and disease-relevant in vivo measurements. CONCLUSION: This work establishes a general materials-and-circuit strategy for strain-resilient electrochemical sensing. The covalently integrated, all-elastomer architecture conforms to dynamic tissues, and the underlying design rules are extensible to affinity-based modalities and closed-loop bioelectronic systems, enabling strain-insensitive chemical monitoring for wearable and implantable precision diagnostics and therapy. Strain-resilient electrochemical sensing on dynamic soft tissues.: An intrinsically stretchable SIRES sensor patch conforms to a deforming organ surface and maintains a stable electrochemical readout during soft-tissue motion. Whereas deformation typically distorts signals by changing circuit resistance and interfacial electrochemistry, SIRES preserves electrochemical signal fidelity under strain, enabling reliable molecular sensing on moving tissues. [Figure created with BioRender.com] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00368075 |
| DOI: | 10.1126/science.aed1630 |
