Journal
NANO ENERGY
Volume 77, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105242
Keywords
Silk protein; Nanorods; Nanocomposite; Piezoelectric; Electronic skin; Energy harvest
Categories
Funding
- National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea [2019R1A2C2088615]
- GRRC program of Gyeonggi province (Photonics-Medical Convergence Technology Research Center) [GRRC-AJOU-2016-B01]
- Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning [20184030202220]
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Engineered silk protein hydrogel that resembles skin tissue is a promising material for artificial electronic skin; it can be interfaced with real biological tissues seamlessly and used as an artificial tissue in soft robotics. Herein, we report a soft, biocompatible, and skin-adhesive silk hydrogel incorporating ZnO nanorods (ZnONRs) for a tribo- and piezo-electric energy-generating skin (EG-skin) that can harvest biomechanical energy and sense biomechanical motions. Incorporation of ZnONRs mediates an eight-fold enhancement of piezoelectricity compared to pristine silk hydrogel. An additional two-fold increase in the electrical response is possible when it is encapsulated in silk protein layers because of the hybrid effect of tribo- and piezo-electricity. The high power generated (similar to 1 mW/cm(2)) is sufficient to activate low-power electrical devices, such as LEDs, oximeters, and stopwatches. Additionally, the EG-skin can be used as a tactile identifier for finger movements with quantized real-time electrical signals. The softness and skin-adhesive properties provide conformal interfaces with human skin and biological tissues, and we can harvest energies of approximately 6.2 and 0.9 mu W/cm(2), respectively, from their mechanical stimulation. The silk-protein-based artificial EG-skin can be effectively utilized in human-machine interfaces, tactile sensors, soft robotics, and biomedical implants.
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