Multipurpose and Reusable Ultrathin Electronic Tattoos Based on PtSe2 and PtTe2

TL;DR

This paper introduces ultrathin platinum-based 2D electronic tattoos made from PtSe2 and PtTe2, demonstrating their effectiveness for monitoring vital signs and outperforming traditional materials like gold and graphene.

Contribution

The development of large-scale synthesized PtSe2 and PtTe2 electronic tattoos for biomedical monitoring, highlighting PtTe2's superior electrical and biocompatibility properties.

Findings

PtTe2 tattoos outperform gold and graphene in impedance and sheet resistance.

PtTe2 tattoos match medical-grade electrodes in performance.

The multi-tattoo system can distinguish eye movements and gaze directions.

Abstract

Wearable bioelectronics with emphasis on the research and development of advanced person-oriented biomedical devices have attracted immense interest in the last decade. Scientists and clinicians find it essential to utilize skin-worn smart tattoos for on-demand and ambulatory monitoring of an individual's vital signs. Here we report on the development of novel ultrathin platinum-based two-dimensional dichalcogenide (Pt-TMDs) based electronic tattoos as advanced building blocks of future wearable bioelectronics. We made these ultrathin electronic tattoos out of large-scale synthesized platinum diselenide (PtSe2) and platinum ditelluride (PtTe2) layered materials and used them for monitoring human physiological vital signs, such as the electrical activity of the heart and the brain, muscle contractions, eye movements, and temperature. We show that both materials can be used for these applications; yet, PtTe2 was found to be the most suitable choice due to its metallic structure. In terms of sheet resistance, skin-contact, and electrochemical impedance, PtTe2 outperforms state-of-the-art gold and graphene electronic tattoos and performs on par with medical-grade Ag/AgCl gel electrodes. The PtTe2 tattoos show four times lower impedance and almost 100 times lower sheet resistance compared to monolayer graphene tattoos. One of the possible prompt implications of the work is perhaps in the development of advanced human-machine interfaces. To display the application, we built a multi-tattoo system that can easily distinguish eye movement and identify the direction of an individual's sight.