Session: 04-06-01: AI for Heterogeneous Materials Design, Discovery, and Manufacturing I

Paper Number: 173122

Rubbery Electronics 

Electronics that can intimately and seamlessly integrate with the human body have the potential to revolutionize healthcare, diagnostics, therapeutics, and human–machine interaction. Yet, realizing this vision presents a fundamental challenge: the stark mechanical mismatch between traditional electronics and biological tissues. Conventional electronic systems, built from rigid, brittle, and planar materials, are inherently incompatible with the soft, elastic, and dynamic nature of tissues and organs. This incompatibility often leads to foreign body responses and tissue irritation,  limiting the effectiveness of electronics in real-world biomedical environments.

This talk introduces the concept of rubbery electronics, a new class of electronic materials and devices that exhibit tissue-like softness, stretchability, and resilience. Unlike conventional flexible electronics that use structural engineering (e.g., serpentine layouts or wavy interconnects) to tolerate deformation, rubbery electronics achieve intrinsic mechanical compliance at the materials level. By developing and integrating rubber-like semiconductors, conductors, and dielectrics, we create devices that can deform, stretch, and conform with the human body—without compromising performance.

We begin by introducing rubbery semiconductors, designed by embedding conjugated polymer nanomaterials in stretchable matrices or constructing block copolymer networks that combine electronic functionality with mechanical elasticity. These materials are optimized to deliver high charge carrier mobility and strain tolerance—all essential for robust operation. In parallel, we develop rubbery conductors composed of percolated networks of metallic nanomaterials or intrinsically conductive polymers. These conductors exhibit low resistance under strain and support scalable patterning and integration.With this materials foundation, we fabricate high-performance electronic devices—including transistors, logic gates, active-matrix circuits, and large-area sensors—that operate reliably under mechanical strain, bending, and twisting. These rubbery devices can endure strains up to 50% or more, maintain stable electrical characteristics over thousands of deformation cycles, and form conformal interfaces with both flat and curvilinear biological surfaces.

The presentation then introduces system-level demonstrations that showcase the unique capabilities of rubbery electronics. These include soft electronic skins capable of mapping pressure in real time, implantable epicardial bioelectronic patches for continuous physiological monitoring, and ultra-thin wireless optoelectric cardiac stimulator, etc. These applications reveal the versatility of rubbery electronics in both biomedical and robotic domains.

Importantly, the rubbery electronics platform allows for integration with scalable fabrication techniques, such as solution processing, printing, and soft lithography. This manufacturability, combined with the mechanical and electrical robustness of the system, positions rubbery electronics as a compelling technology for next-generation wearable devices, soft robotics, smart prosthetics, and medical implants.

Rubbery electronics offer a materials-driven solution to one of the most pressing challenges in bioelectronics and soft robotics. By reimagining electronic materials to match the mechanical and functional properties of life, this platform sets the stage for transformative advances in human-interactive technology. The talk concludes with a discussion of emerging opportunities and key challenges.

Presenting Author: Cunjiang Yu University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Cunjiang Yu is the Founder Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with joint appointments in Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Science and Engineering, and Bioengineering. He received his PhD from Arizona State University and performed postdoctoral training at UIUC. His lab research focuses on the fundamentals and applications of soft and bio electronics. He has authored 120 journal articles, with about 40 published in Nature and Science family journals. His work has been recognized by a few awards, including the multiple Young Investigator Awards from the ASME, Society of Engineering Science, American Vacuum Society and ONR; the CAREER Award from NSF; Trailblazer Award from NIH, etc.

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