Page 62 - Read Online

Shin et al. Soft Sci 2024;4:22 Soft Science
DOI: 10.20517/ss.2024.03

Research Article Open Access

Soft Schottky diodes for skin-interfaced electronics

enabled by entirely soft components

1
1
1
1
Donghyung Shin 1,# , Sehyun Kim 1,# , Haechan Park , Yeeun Kim , Myeonghyeon Na , Daeun Kim ,
Kyoseung Sim 1,2,*
1
Department of Chemistry, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
2
Center for Wave Energy Materials, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of
Korea.
#
Authors contributed equally.
* Correspondence to: Prof. Kyoseung Sim, Department of Chemistry, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST),
50, UNIST-gil, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea. E-mail: kyos@unist.ac.kr
How to cite this article: Shin D, Kim S, Park H, Kim Y, Na M, Kim D, Sim K. Soft Schottky diodes for skin-interfaced electronics
enabled by entirely soft components. Soft Sci 2024;4:22. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ss.2024.03

Received: 31 Jan 2024 First Decision: 8 Mar 2024 Revised: 15 Mar 2024 Accepted: 29 Mar 2024 Published: 31 May 2024

Academic Editors: Zhifeng Ren, Sang Min Won Copy Editor: Dong-Li Li Production Editor: Dong-Li Li

Abstract
Soft electronics have achieved significant development, attracting substantial interest due to their promising
potential as a dominant form of future electronics. In this rapidly evolving field, the fully soft Schottky diode plays a
critical role as a fundamental building block for electronic circuitry systems. These systems, constructed entirely
from soft materials, can tolerate various mechanical deformations when interfaced with human skin, making them
ideal for use in health monitoring systems and interactive human-machine interfaces. In this study, we introduce a
Schottky diode fabricated entirely from soft materials using a facile solution process, further enabling all-printing
fabrication systems. Utilizing the mechanical softness of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate-
based soft electrode, poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanofibril composite soft semiconductor, and liquid metal, we
successfully fabricated a fully soft Schottky diode. This diode exhibits exceptional electrical characteristics even
under various mechanical deformations, showcasing the high durability of the device. We have further developed
fully soft rectifiers and logic gates, highlighting the versatility of our study. By incorporating these devices with a
piezoelectric nanogenerator in a skin-interfaced energy harvesting system, they exhibit sufficient capability for
rectification, ensuring a stable power supply as part of a power supply management system. This approach offers
substantial potential for future skin-interfaced electronics, paving the way for advanced wearable technology.

Keywords: Soft Schottky diode, skin-interfaced electronics, fully soft electronics, soft full-wave bridge rectifier

© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

www.oaepublish.com/ss