Soft Materials and Electronics: Novel Designs and Applications (Talk)

Soft materials assemblies offer a diverse range of sophisticated functions, including sensing and actuation, particularly relevant in intimate interactions with the human body. While hard materials dominate current machine and robot construction, there is a growing recognition of the advantages of soft materials in biomedical devices and human-machine interfaces. Soft systems offer comfort, safety, adaptability, and cost-effectiveness. However, the development of soft devices, encompassing sensors, actuators, and power sources, is in its early stages, requiring further research in materials, fabrication, design, and mechanism. In this talk, I will first introduce soft electronic fibers and textiles with state-of-the-art architectures and functionalities. I will discuss how combining a fundamental understanding of rheology with mechanical and electrical engineering of elastic materials has led to these advances. Examples will include high-performance, stretchable energy harvesters and highly integrated soft actuators. Following this, I will present our recent breakthroughs in minimally invasive nerve interfaces, achieved through the innovative integration of soft actuators with thin film-based bioelectronics.