Mechanics, Manufacture, and Applications of Electronic Tattoos by Professor Nanshu Lu

Abstract: Bio-tissues are soft, curvilinear and dynamic whereas wafer-based electronics are hard, planar, and rigid. Over the past decade, stretchable electronics involving stiff functional materials have emerged as a result of new structural designs and unique materials processes, where mechanics plays a pivotal role. Electronic tattoos (e-tattoos) represent a class of stretchable circuits, sensors, and stimulators that are ultrathin, ultrasoft, skin-conformable and deformable just like a temporary tattoo. This talk introduces a low-cost, dry and freeform “cut-and-paste” method to fabricate e-tattoos within minutes. This method has been proved to work for thin film metals, polymers, ceramics, as well as 2D materials. I will demonstrate the unique advantages of such disposable e-tattoos as a mobile and disposable platform for continuous vital sign monitoring, human-robot interface (HRI), as well as personalized therapeutics. Battery-free wireless e-tattoos based on NFC will be demonstrated. Bio-electronics integration such as conformability and suction-enabled reusable adhesives will be discussed. Group website: https://lu.ae.utexas.edu Email: nanshulu@utexas.edu

Biosketch: Nanshu received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2009 and spent two years as a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at UIUC. She joined University of Texas at Austin in 2011 and became tenured Associate Professor in 2017. Her research is on the mechanics, fabrication, and bio-integration of flexible and stretchable electronics. She has been named TR35 and has received NSF CAREER Award, multiple DOD Young Investigator Awards and 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award.

 

Date/Time:
Date(s) - Apr 04, 2018
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Location:
38-138 Engineering IV
420 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles CA 90095