Mussel-inspired self-healing adhesive MXene hydrogel for epidermal electronics

Flexible epidermal sensors built using conductive hydrogels can help realize personalized and wearable diagnostic healthcare devices. However, many challenges remain, such as in durability, adhesiveness, sensing ability for high-performance wearable human-machine interaction, and antibacterial and hemostatic capabilities for medical applications. In this work, we present a mussel-inspired MXene hydrogel-based epidermal sensor with high sensing sensitivity and a number of useful physical properties including high strain tolerance, self-adhesiveness, and the ability to self-heal. We integrated the hydrogel into several prototype devices for the monitoring of full-scale human motions, such as elbow bending and wrist pulse, and tiny electrophysiological signals, such as electrocardiogram and electromyogram. At the same time, the material is also biocompatible and demonstrated reliable antibacterial and hemostatic capability, which provides the add-on benefits of treating wound bleeding and infection.