Photo-polymerized zwitterionic PDMS elastomers with dynamic networks: A reactive design for self-healing, antibacterial E-skin

Flexible electronic skin ( E -skin) demands materials with skin-like softness, self-healing capability, and antibacterial properties for long-term wearable applications. Here, we developed a series of self-healing, antibacterial zwitterionic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers via a facile photo-polymerization strategy. The elastomer was synthesized by crosslinking acrylate-terminated PDMS (PDMS-IU-MA) with zwitterionic sulfobetaine methacrylate (SBMA) using reactive hyperbranched polysiloxane (HPBSi) containing methacrylate groups as a multifunctional mediator. The resulting material exhibited remarkable antibacterial effects against E. coli and S. aureus , attributed to the zwitterionic SBMA moieties, while the dynamic hydrogen-bonding network formed by urethane/urea groups enabled self-healing ability. The mechanical properties, self-healing efficiency, and antibacterial performance were systematically tuned by varying the SBMA content. Furthermore, a conductive E -skin capable of precisely monitoring human motion through resistance changes was fabricated by integrating liquid metal (LM) microdroplets into an optimized PDMS matrix. This work provides a scalable strategy to integrate antimicrobial protection, self-healing, and strain sensing into E -skin for next-generation wearable electronics.