Fabrication and use of Copper Nanowires Conductive Ink for Wearable Electronic-Skin Devices

This work describes the complete process involved in the fabrication of imperceptible and wearable Electronic-Skin devices. Earth abundant copper and graphite is used to make nano-inks, which can be used to literally paint, draw, and spray on conductive coatings on any surface. When applied on flexible and stretchable surfaces, they become responsive to physical deformations, and this can be read in terms of electrical signals. Using this concept, we were able to fabricate heart rate sensors, muscle stretch and hand motion detectors, simply by painting them on skin or fabric. The sensors were made smart and wireless using Bluetooth technology.