Scalable Method Supports The Creation Of Self-Healing, Flexible Transistors And Circuits

Recent technological progress has led to the creation of a diverse array of increasingly advanced wearable and implantable devices, capable of monitoring physiological signals or delivering precise therapeutic interventions to specific areas of the body. Since these devices—especially implantables—are meant to function in dynamic biological environments over extended periods, they must be biocompatible and able to self-repair when damaged.

Innovative Scalable Method Developed for Self-Healing, Stretchable Electronics Integration

Researchers from Sungkyunkwan University, the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), and other South Korean institutions have recently developed a novel method for producing self-healing, stretchable electronic components suitable for integration into advanced devices. Detailed in a Nature Electronics publication, their method supports scalable and reconfigurable assembly of these components into high-performance integrated systems.

“Since the mid-2000s, flexible and stretchable electronics have transformed areas like artificial electronic skin and soft implantable bioelectronics,” said Donghee Son, senior author of the study, in an interview with Tech Xplore.

“However, maintaining reliable performance over time remains difficult, as devices face mechanical wear and damage from repeated motion and external forces. Moreover, it has traditionally been impossible to reconfigure pre-fabricated flexible electronics to adapt to specific user needs.”

Another major hurdle in developing implantable electronics is preserving their electrical performance over time, especially in moist and dynamic biological environments. To address this, Son and his team designed self-healing, stretchable materials with favorable electronic properties and developed a method to incorporate them into functional circuits.

“Human skin naturally heals itself after injury, restoring both its structure and ability to sense and relay information,” Son explained. “Inspired by this, our research embeds self-healing and stretchable capabilities into all three essential layers of a transistor—the dielectric insulator, semiconductor, and electrodes (gate, source, and drain). This enables users to reconfigure logic gates, active matrices, and display arrays to meet specific needs.”

Scalable Fabrication Method Promises Breakthroughs in Advanced Implantable Medical Devices

The scalable fabrication method introduced by the team could pave the way for advanced implantable devices capable of recording electrophysiological signals from the brain, vagus nerve, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and even heart tissue. Such devices hold promise for improving diagnosis and treatment across a variety of medical conditions.

“To build fully self-healing, stretchable systems, key materials include self-repairing polymers, conductive nanomaterials, and organic semiconductors,” Son said.

Self-Healing Semiconductor Layer Boosts Durability

The transistor’s semiconductor layer is made by mixing a self-healing polymer with an organic semiconductor and spin-coating it. This process causes spontaneous vertical phase separation, which helps prevent performance loss under external stress. Even when damaged, the polymer chains reconnect, preserving electrical and mechanical functions.

Son and his team proposed using transfer-printing to fabricate each device layer—insulators, electrodes, and semiconductors—over large areas. This scalable method enables large-area stretchable systems integrated with touch sensors, matrices, and displays.

This printing method lets stretchable, self-healing transistors be reassembled like LEGO blocks for custom systems. Early tests showed the transistors, on self-healing, biocompatible substrates, maintained stable performance long after implantation in animals.

“No bioelectronic system has yet combined self-healing, stretchability, and in vivo implantability—this study is the first,” said Son.

Next-Gen Neuroprosthetics

Next-gen neuroprosthetics for human enhancement must capture neural signals via high-density implants, process them, and deliver stimulation through closed-loop feedback. A key requirement for these systems is long-term stable performance without degradation.

An additional benefit of devices made with the team’s method is their modular and reconfigurable design. This enables customization for user preferences and easy plug-and-play replacement if performance drops.

Son and his team’s scalable method for stretchable, self-healing circuits could advance implantable and wearable biomedical devices. Ultimately, systems built using their approach could undergo pre-clinical and clinical trials to verify safety and assess practical effectiveness.

“These breakthroughs are expected to become a foundation for the advancing field of human augmentation technologies,” Son added. In our future research, we will concentrate on enhancing the electrical performance of self-healing, stretchable modular integrated systems.

Specifically, we intend to optimize critical factors like semiconductor mobility and electrode conductivity to achieve high-speed circuit operation. We also plan to create circuits capable of capturing high-quality electrophysiological signals in living organisms. Building on these improvements, our long-term objective is to develop personalized systems for diagnosing and treating brain and heart diseases.

Read the original article on: Tech Xplore

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