Advances in Stretchable Functional Materials for Soft Bioelectronics

Soft bioelectronics refers to the electronic devices and systems with mechanical properties akin to the biological tissues of the human body, such that they can be conformally and harmlessly integrated to the targeted tissues, for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Conventional rigid materials-based devices are prone to trigger inflammatory reactions upon their implementation due to the mismatch in the mechanical properties. To solve this issue, bioelectronic devices that achieve tissue-like softness using either stretchable designs/structures or materials with intrinsic stretchability have been extensively investigated. In this article, we provide a brief review on such soft bioelectronics, with a focus on the devices fabricated using intrinsically stretchable materials and their latest advances.