CN113080977A

CN113080977A - Preparation method of flexible electrode, flexible electrode and use method of flexible electrode

Info

Publication number: CN113080977A
Application number: CN202110318480.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈达; 牛浩然; 刘一剑; 宋戈; 王鸿飞
Original assignee: Shandong University of Science and Technology
Current assignee: Shandong University of Science and Technology
Priority date: 2021-03-25
Filing date: 2021-03-25
Publication date: 2021-07-09
Anticipated expiration: 2041-03-25
Also published as: CN113080977B

Abstract

The invention discloses a preparation method of a flexible electrode, the flexible electrode and a using method of the flexible electrode. The preparation method of the flexible electrode comprises the following steps: I. preparing flexible film water transfer printing paper based on the flexible film and the water transfer printing paper; II, arranging a metal electrode layer on the surface of the flexible film water transfer printing paper; placing an electrode manufacturing mold on the surface of the metal electrode layer, and finishing the patterning construction of the metal electrode layer and the whole flexible film water transfer printing paper based on an embossing process to manufacture a flexible electrode; the flexible film in the present invention includes, but is not limited to, polyimide film or mylar film. The preparation method of the flexible electrode, provided by the invention, is based on the embossing process, so that the manufacturing cost of the electrode is greatly reduced; in addition, the invention can realize the large-area preparation of electrodes with different patterns by the embossing process and the reasonable selection of the electrode manufacturing mould.

Description

Preparation method of flexible electrode, flexible electrode and use method of flexible electrode

Technical Field

The invention relates to a preparation method of a flexible electrode, the flexible electrode and a using method of the electrode.

Background

The bioelectric signal is used as an important index for evaluating the health level of a human body and comprises various physiological state information of the human body. Bioelectricity, which is common in the human body, includes electroencephalogram (EEG), Electrocardiogram (ECG), Electromyogram (EMG), Electrooculogram (EOG), and the like.

By long-term monitoring of bioelectric signals of human bodies, various physiological diseases (such as cerebral thrombosis, myocardial infarction, retinopathy, neuromuscular diseases and the like) can be diagnosed and prevented.

In addition, the bioelectric signal can be used for research in the fields of human-computer interfaces, rehabilitation, sleep detection and the like.

The flexible wearable medical equipment can realize the monitoring of various biological signals of a human body, such as bioelectricity, respiration, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate, body temperature and the like by integrating different sensors.

The acquisition of the bioelectricity signal is realized by converting in-vivo ionic current into electronic current in acquisition equipment through a sensor (electrode), and the electrode is used as an interface for connecting the wearable electronic equipment and a human body and mainly comprises a wet electrode and a dry electrode.

The wet electrode mostly adopts a disposable gel type Ag/AgCl electrode, and the conductive gel on the electrode effectively improves the contact impedance of the skin and the electrode interface. However, the disposable gel-type Ag/AgCl electrode has the following drawbacks:

a. the inability to monitor bioelectric signals over a long period of time

As the monitoring time progresses, the conductive gel dries up, causing the contact impedance to increase and the signal quality to decrease accordingly.

b. Easily generate irritation to skin

Due to the use of the conductive gel, the disposable gel type Ag/AgCl can generate irritation phenomena such as local redness, rash, itching and the like on human skin in the using process, thereby greatly limiting the using personnel.

c. Damage to the skin

The disposable dressing is used, so that the disposable gel type Ag/AgCl electrode can cause great damage to a human body (for example, abrasion of stratum corneum) in the process of separating from the skin of the human body, and the human body feels great pain.

The existing dry electrodes are mainly divided into two types, one is a hard dry electrode, namely a dry electrode without conductive gel, and the other is a traditional flexible dry electrode, namely a dry electrode without conductive gel and made of flexible materials.

Among them, the conventional hard dry electrode (inflexible electrode) has the following defects in the using process:

a. large contact resistance and poor signal quality

The dry electrode loses the conductive gel, and the inflexible electrode cannot be fully contacted with the skin surface of a human body, so that the contact impedance between the dry electrode and the skin is correspondingly increased, and the signal acquisition quality is reduced.

b. During the movement, artifact phenomenon is easy to occur

The joint performance with human skin is poor, relative movement can be generated in the motion process, and an artifact phenomenon is generated on signals (the motion artifact is noise in a dynamic state, and mainly comes from the change of an electrode and the skin interface and the potential generated by the deformation of the skin).

c. The micro-needle of the invasive hard dry electrode can pierce the skin of a human body, so that the invasive hard dry electrode brings discomfort to the human body, slightly causes the problems of skin allergy and the like, and severely causes the problem of cross infection.

While the fabrication of conventional flexible dry electrodes mostly relies on standard microelectronic fabrication processes, including vacuum deposition of thin films, spin coating, photolithography, and dry/wet etching, such flexible dry electrodes have the following drawbacks:

a. the preparation process is complex, the cost is high, the incompatibility is increased, and the commercial use of the flexible electrode is limited;

b. most electrodes are large in thickness and poor in performance of being attached to human skin, and signal artifact phenomena are easily generated in the movement process.

In summary, it is important to develop a flexible stretchable electrode solution with low cost, high yield and conformal contact transferable to any substrate while ensuring good mechanical and electrical properties.

Disclosure of Invention

One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a flexible electrode, so as to reduce the production cost of the electrode, and simultaneously, to implement large-area manufacturing of the flexible electrode, which is beneficial to improving the production efficiency of the flexible electrode.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

a preparation method of a flexible electrode comprises the following steps:

I. preparing flexible film water transfer printing paper based on the flexible film and the water transfer printing paper;

II, arranging a metal electrode layer on the surface of the flexible film water transfer printing paper;

and III, placing an electrode manufacturing mold on the surface of the metal electrode layer, and finishing the patterning construction of the metal electrode layer and the whole flexible film water transfer printing paper based on an embossing process to obtain the flexible electrode.

Preferably, in step II, a metal electrode layer is disposed on the surface of the flexible film based on a metal deposition or painting process;

the metal electrode layer is made of gold, silver, copper, aluminum or nickel.

Preferably, in step II, before the metal electrode layer is disposed on the surface of the flexible film, a titanium layer or a chromium layer is disposed.

Preferably, the electrode manufacturing mold is provided with a construction pattern, and the pattern structure comprises a periodic snake-shaped structure, an island bridge-shaped structure or a fractal structure.

Preferably, in step III, the process of manufacturing the flexible electrode based on the embossing process is as follows:

firstly, an electrode manufacturing die and flexible film water transfer paper provided with a metal electrode layer are sequentially placed between two embossing plates of an embossing machine, and then pressure is applied to the two embossing plates to manufacture the flexible electrode.

Preferably, in step I, the flexible film water transfer paper is made as follows:

I.1. firstly, paving a preservative film, and then preheating the preservative film;

I.2. attaching the flexible film to the preservative film and paving the flexible film;

I.3. coating a layer of polyvinyl alcohol solution on the surface of the flexible film, placing water transfer paper on the surface of the flexible film coated with the polyvinyl alcohol solution, and then performing rolling treatment on the water transfer paper;

I.4. heating the whole of the water transfer paper, the polyvinyl alcohol solution and the flexible film, wherein the heating temperature is higher than the temperature preheated in the step I.1, so that the polyvinyl alcohol solution is solidified;

I.5. and removing the preservative film to obtain the flexible film water transfer printing paper.

Preferably, in step i.2, the flexible film is spread flat by means of scraping with a scraper or rolling with a roller.

I.1. firstly, paving water transfer paper, and then coating a layer of polyvinyl alcohol solution on the surface of the water transfer paper;

I.2. attaching a flexible film to the surface of the water transfer printing paper coated with the polyvinyl alcohol solution and paving the flexible film;

I.3. and heating the water transfer printing paper, the polyvinyl alcohol solution and the flexible film integrally to solidify the polyvinyl alcohol solution so as to obtain the flexible film water transfer printing paper.

And step I.2, paving the flexible film in a scraping mode or a roller rolling mode.

Preferably, the flexible film in step I comprises a polyimide film, a polyester film, a polynaphthalene film, a polycarbonate film or a polyvinyl chloride film.

The second purpose of the present invention is to provide another method for manufacturing a flexible electrode, which can achieve the same or substantially the same effect as the above-mentioned method for manufacturing a flexible electrode.

a preparation method of a flexible electrode comprises the following steps:

II, placing an electrode manufacturing die on the surface of the flexible film water transfer printing paper, and finishing the patterning construction of the whole flexible film water transfer printing paper based on an embossing process;

and III, arranging a metal electrode layer on the surface of the flexible film of the patterned flexible film water transfer printing paper to obtain the flexible electrode.

I.2. attaching the flexible film to a preservative film and paving the flexible film;

I.4. heating the whole of the water transfer printing paper, the polyvinyl alcohol solution and the flexible film, wherein the heating temperature is higher than the temperature preheated in the step I.1, so that the polyvinyl alcohol solution is solidified;

I.3. and heating the water transfer printing paper, the polyvinyl alcohol solution and the flexible film integrally to solidify the polyvinyl alcohol solution, thereby obtaining the flexible film water transfer printing paper.

Preferably, in step II, the process of performing patterned construction based on the embossing process is as follows:

firstly, an electrode manufacturing die and flexible film water transfer paper are placed between two embossing plates of an embossing machine, then pressure is applied to the two embossing plates, and the whole patterning construction of the flexible film water transfer paper is completed.

Preferably, in the step III, a metal electrode layer is disposed on the surface of the flexible film of the patterned flexible film water transfer printing paper based on a metal deposition or painting process; the metal electrode layer is made of gold, silver, copper, aluminum or nickel.

Preferably, in step III, before the metal electrode layer is disposed on the surface of the flexible film, a titanium layer or a chromium layer is disposed.

The invention also provides a flexible electrode which is obtained based on any one of the preparation methods, has the advantages of good stretchability and bonding performance and the like, and is beneficial to improving the quality of bioelectricity signal acquisition.

a flexible electrode is prepared by any one of the above-mentioned preparation methods of the flexible electrode.

The invention also aims to provide a using method of the flexible electrode, which is provided for the flexible electrode and has the advantages of convenience, safety, reliability and the like in flexible electrode transfer.

a use method of a flexible electrode comprises the following steps:

I. attaching the flexible electrode to the surface of the skin of a human body;

and II, spraying water or alcohol to the flexible electrode to realize the separation of the water transfer printing paper and the flexible film in the flexible electrode.

The invention has the following advantages:

the invention provides a method for preparing a flexible electrode based on an embossing process, which greatly reduces the manufacturing cost of the electrode; according to the invention, through the embossing process and the reasonable selection of the electrode manufacturing mold, the large-area preparation of electrodes with different patterns can be realized.

In addition, the invention also provides the flexible electrode obtained by the preparation method based on the flexible electrode, and the flexible electrode has the advantages of good stretchability, good bonding performance and the like, so that the quality of bioelectricity signal acquisition is favorably improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a method for manufacturing a flexible electrode according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the preparation of the flexible film water transfer paper according to example 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the embossing process in example 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of another method for manufacturing a flexible electrode according to example 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the embossing process in example 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the preparation of the flexible film water transfer paper according to example 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view (side view) of a flexible electrode in example 5 of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the manufacturing and using process changes of the flexible electrode in the embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the following figures and detailed description:

example 1

In this embodiment 1, a method for manufacturing a flexible electrode is described to overcome the disadvantages of a conventional method for manufacturing a flexible electrode, such as a complicated manufacturing process and high manufacturing cost.

As shown in fig. 1, a method for manufacturing a flexible electrode includes the following steps:

I. and preparing the flexible film water transfer printing paper based on the flexible film and the water transfer printing paper. The flexible film has the effect that the metal on the surface of the flexible film has certain extensibility, and the metal is not easy to break in the bending and stretching process.

In this embodiment 1, a polyimide film, i.e., a PI film is preferably used as the flexible film.

The water transfer printing paper can ensure that the flexible film is attached without folds, and meanwhile, the safe and reliable transfer of the flexible electrode is realized.

In order to ensure the subsequent preparation effect of the flexible electrode, the flexible film in the flexible film water transfer printing paper is required to be as flat and wrinkle-free as possible, and based on this, embodiment 1 provides a better preparation method of the flexible film water transfer printing paper.

As shown in fig. 2, the preparation method of the flexible film water transfer printing paper comprises the following operation steps:

I.1. the plastic wrap is first laid flat and then preheated.

Wherein, the preheating temperature is 40-60 degrees, and the preheating time generally lasts for several seconds, which is not limited herein.

Specifically, this embodiment 1 is placed the plastic wrap on a hot plate that has the heating function and is paved, then preheats the plastic wrap, through above-mentioned operation, can attached the fold of plastic wrap on the hot plate as far as possible in the reduction.

The effect of setting the preservative film in the step I.1 is mainly two:

firstly, avoiding the polyvinyl alcohol solution added in the following step I.3 from polluting a heating plate;

secondly, if no preservative film is arranged, the flexible film is not easy to separate from the heating plate, and the flexible film is damaged in the separation process.

I.2. And attaching the flexible film to the preservative film, and flattening the flexible film with folds without folds.

The flexible film can be paved in various ways, and the flexible film with folds can be paved by scraping with a cotton edge scraper; of course, the flexible film can also be laid out wrinkle-free by means of roller pressing.

The step I.2 can ensure that the flexible film is laid on the preservative film without folds.

I.3. Firstly, coating a layer of polyvinyl alcohol solution on the surface of the flexible film.

The polyvinyl alcohol solution, namely the PVA solution, has the functions of promoting the adhesion of the flexible film and the water transfer paper and promoting the separation of the flexible film and the water transfer paper when the subsequent flexible electrode transfer paper is applied to the human skin.

Here, the mass ratio of the polyvinyl alcohol solution is a conventional choice, and example 1 is not particularly limited.

The water transfer paper is placed on the surface of the flexible film coated with the polyvinyl alcohol solution, as shown in fig. 8(a), and then the water transfer paper is subjected to a rolling process, specifically, the water transfer paper may be subjected to a rolling process using a roller.

The purpose of carrying out rolling treatment on the water transfer paper is to enable the polyvinyl alcohol solution between the flexible film and the water transfer paper to be uniform, and the flexible film can be attached to the water transfer paper without folds.

I.4. The whole of the water transfer paper, the polyvinyl alcohol solution and the flexible film is heated at a temperature higher than the temperature preheated in the above step i.1, so that the polyvinyl alcohol solution is cured, as shown in fig. 8 (b).

The heating temperature in step I.4 is in the range of 60-90 degrees, and the heating time is preferably 10-20 minutes.

The flexible film water transfer paper prepared according to the process steps I.1 to I.5 has a smooth and wrinkle-free surface of the flexible film, and is beneficial to improving the manufacturing quality of subsequent flexible electrodes.

And II, arranging a metal electrode layer on the surface of the flexible film water transfer printing paper in the step I.

The metal electrode layer may be disposed in various manners, for example, a metal deposition manner may be adopted, and common metal deposition manners include magnetron sputtering, vacuum evaporation, or molecular beam epitaxy.

In this embodiment 1, a metal electrode layer is preferably sputtered on the surface of the flexible thin film by a magnetron sputtering method. Specifically, the flexible film water transfer paper is placed in a magnetron sputtering instrument, and then a metal electrode layer is sputtered on the surface of the flexible film.

The metal electrode layer is made of gold, silver, copper, aluminum or nickel, and the performance of the gold, the silver, the copper, the aluminum or the nickel is sequentially reduced according to the conducting performance. Among other things, the use of nickel allows the flexible electrode to be used as a temperature sensor.

Since the metal electrode layer is not easily attached to the surface of the flexible thin film, in this embodiment 1, a titanium (Ti) layer needs to be sputtered before sputtering the metal electrode layer, as shown in fig. 8 (c). Wherein:

the titanium (Ti) layer can be well attached to the flexible film, and the metal used as the metal electrode layer can be well attached to the titanium (Ti) layer, so that the metal electrode layer is effectively prevented from falling.

Of course, the titanium (Ti) layer in this embodiment may be replaced with a chromium (Cr) layer, and the same effect may be obtained.

Besides the above metal deposition mode, a metal electrode layer can be arranged on the surface of the flexible film by adopting a brushing process, namely, materials such as conductive ink, conductive silver paste and the like are directly brushed on the surface of the flexible film water transfer printing paper.

By adopting a brushing process, the preparation time of the whole flexible electrode can be greatly shortened, so that the preparation efficiency is improved.

And III, after the metal electrode layer is arranged, connecting the metal electrode layer and the flexible film water transfer paper into a whole, wherein the metal electrode layer, the titanium (Ti) layer and the flexible film water transfer paper are arranged from top to bottom in sequence.

And (3) placing an electrode manufacturing mold on the surface of the metal electrode layer, and finishing the overall patterning construction of the metal electrode layer, the titanium (Ti) layer and the flexible film water transfer paper based on an embossing process to obtain the flexible electrode.

The electrode manufacturing mold adopts an inner concave structure, and the inner concave structure at the position is a structure which is concave towards the inner side of the mold. The electrode manufacturing mould is provided with a construction pattern, and the pattern structure comprises a periodic snake shape, an island bridge shape or a fractal structure and the like.

Because the stretching degree of each part of the human body is different, the flexible electrodes with different structures can be manufactured by selecting the electrodes with different structures to adapt to the mechanical deformation of different positions of the human body, so that the flexible electrodes can be better contacted with the surface of the skin of the human body.

The following describes the patterns of the above three structural forms in detail:

the stretchability of the periodic serpentine-shaped interconnection structure mainly comes from the serpentine-shaped lines which are meandered, and when the structure is stretched to generate deformation, the serpentine-shaped lines are slowly unfolded, so that the whole structure has high stretchability.

Discrete rigid functional devices are placed on the island by the island bridge structure and are connected through metal interconnection wires (namely bridges), and when the island bridge structure is subjected to external load, the island can be protected in a low-strain mode by the interconnection wires for connecting the islands, so that the ductility of the whole system is improved.

Fractal interconnect structures (entire structures can be obtained from small parts, self-similar, space-filling characteristics) are more typical of peano curves and vicker fractal structures.

Such structures can accommodate high strains of a particular size and support various deformation modes, such as uniaxial, biaxial, or radial deformation.

Meanwhile, when the fractal structure interconnection line is used as an antenna, the fractal structure interconnection line has better radio frequency characteristics (the filling performance of the fractal structure effectively reduces the size of the antenna, and meanwhile, due to the self-similarity of the fractal structure, a broadband and multiband antenna can be constructed).

The embossing process can be carried out using conventional embossing machines, including manual embossing machines and automatic embossing machines. Whatever the type of embossing machine, it includes the necessary components of an upper embossing plate, a lower embossing plate, and a pressing mechanism.

As shown in fig. 3, the specific process of manufacturing the flexible electrode based on the embossing process is as follows:

first, an electrode manufacturing mold is placed on the surface of the metal electrode layer, and then the electrode manufacturing mold, the metal electrode layer, the titanium (Ti) layer, and the flexible film water transfer paper are integrally placed between the upper embossing plate and the lower embossing plate, as shown in fig. 8 (d).

Pressure is applied to the above two embossing plates by a pressing mechanism (not shown).

After the completion of the pressing, the surplus portion after the embossing is removed, as shown in fig. 8(e), and the metal electrode layer, the titanium (Ti) layer, and the flexible thin film water transfer paper are integrally formed in the same pattern structure as the electrode-making mold, thereby making a flexible electrode.

The flexible electrode is sequentially provided with a metal electrode layer, a titanium (Ti) layer and flexible film water transfer paper from top to bottom.

According to the embodiment, different electrode manufacturing dies can be selected according to the pattern, the size and the thickness of the required flexible electrode, the electrode pattern is constructed by adjusting the extrusion pressure of the extrusion mechanism, and then the flexible electrode in the corresponding shape is manufactured.

In addition, in order to ensure the quality of the flexible electrode, it is necessary to avoid the relative movement between the embossing plate and the electrode manufacturing mold during the embossing process, and therefore, the present embodiment is further designed as follows:

and clamping groove structures are respectively arranged between the upper pressing plate and the lower pressing plate and between the upper pressing plate and the electrode manufacturing mold.

Through above draw-in groove structure, can avoid among the embossing process upper and lower embossing plate and go up between embossing plate and the mould relative movement, avoid dropping and the phenomenon of pressing less and pressing more of the metal electrode layer of impression, guarantee the quality of flexible electrode.

The embossing process in this example 1 is compared with the conventional flexible electrode manufacturing process as follows:

the traditional patterning electrode construction needs photoetching, dry/wet etching and other processes, the process has high manufacturing cost and great incompatibility, reduces the commercial use capability of the electrode, and is limited by the influence of a silicon wafer, and the manufacturing area is greatly limited.

Methods such as inkjet printing, digital cutting, laser cutting, etc., while effective in reducing costs, all require edge finding construction.

In the embodiment 1, an embossing process is adopted, the preparation process is simple, and the processes of photoetching, dry/wet etching and the like which have high preparation cost and great incompatibility of the traditional flexible electrode are effectively replaced, so that the preparation cost of the electrode is greatly reduced;

in addition, in embodiment 1, by the embossing process and the selection of the electrode manufacturing mold, the large-area preparation of electrodes with different patterns can be realized, and the one-step molding of the flexible electrode can be realized, so that the preparation time is greatly shortened.

Example 2

This example 2 describes a method for manufacturing a flexible electrode, and the technical features of the method can be referred to the contents of the relevant portion of the above example 1, except that the following technical features are different from those of the above example 1.

The manufacturing method in this example 2 is somewhat different in the order of the manufacturing steps of the flexible electrode, compared to the above example 1.

As shown in fig. 4, a method for manufacturing a flexible electrode includes the following steps:

I. and preparing the flexible film water transfer printing paper based on the flexible film and the water transfer printing paper.

This step I is the same as the process for preparing the flexible film water transfer paper in example 1 above, and will not be described in detail here.

And II, placing an electrode manufacturing mold on the surface of the flexible film water transfer printing paper, and finishing the patterning construction of the flexible film water transfer printing paper based on an embossing process, wherein the construction process is detailed below.

The electrode manufacturing mold in this embodiment 2 also adopts an inward concave structure, and a construction pattern is also arranged on the electrode manufacturing mold, and the pattern structure includes a periodic snake shape, an island bridge shape, a fractal structure, and the like.

The embossing process in this embodiment 2 can also be implemented by using a conventional embossing machine, including a manual embossing machine, an automatic embossing machine, and the like. No matter what kind of embossing machine, all include necessary parts such as upper embossing plate, lower embossing plate and extrusion mechanism.

As shown in fig. 5, the specific process of manufacturing the flexible electrode based on the embossing process in this embodiment 2 is as follows:

firstly, an electrode manufacturing die is placed on the surface of a flexible film of flexible film water transfer printing paper, and then the electrode manufacturing die and the flexible film water transfer printing paper are integrally placed between an upper embossing plate and a lower embossing plate.

And applying pressure to the two embossing plates by using a pressing mechanism (not shown in the figure) to finish the patterning construction of the flexible film water transfer printing paper, and removing the redundant part after embossing after the embossing process is finished.

Finally, the patterned flexible film water transfer paper has the same pattern structure as the electrode manufacturing mould.

And III, arranging a metal electrode layer on the surface of the flexible film of the patterned flexible film water transfer printing paper in the same way as the metal electrode layer in the embodiment 1.

In addition, since the metal electrode layer is not easily attached to the surface of the flexible thin film and is easily dropped, in this embodiment 2, a titanium (Ti) layer or a chromium (Cr) layer needs to be disposed before disposing the metal electrode layer.

Finally, the flexible electrode manufactured by the manufacturing process has the same pattern structure as the electrode manufacturing mold, and the flexible electrode sequentially comprises a metal electrode layer, a titanium (Ti) layer and flexible film water transfer paper from top to bottom.

By using the method for manufacturing the flexible electrode in this embodiment 2, the same or substantially the same effect as that of the method for manufacturing the flexible electrode in the above embodiment 1 can be achieved, and the quality of the manufactured flexible electrode is the same or substantially the same.

Example 3

This example 3 also describes a method for manufacturing a flexible electrode, and the technical features of the method can be referred to the contents of the relevant portion of the above example 1, except that the following technical features are different from those of the above example 1.

The flexible film in this embodiment 3 is a polyester film, i.e., a PET film. The PET film can replace the PI film in the embodiment 1, and has the same or similar effect on improving the extensibility of metal.

Of course, besides the PI film and the PET film, other films having the same or similar properties to the PI film and the PET film, such as a polynaphthalene ester film (i.e., PEN film), a polycarbonate film (i.e., PC film), or a polyvinyl chloride film (i.e., PVC film), may be used as the flexible film, and the effects achieved by the flexible film are the same or substantially the same, which are not described herein again.

Example 4

This example 4 also describes a method for manufacturing a flexible electrode, and the technical features of the method can be referred to the contents of the relevant portion of the above example 1, except that the following technical features are different from those of the above example 1.

The manufacturing process of the flexible film water transfer printing paper in the embodiment 4 is different from the manufacturing process of the flexible film water transfer printing paper in the embodiment 1, and other technical characteristics are kept unchanged.

As shown in fig. 6, the process for making the flexible film water transfer paper in this embodiment 4 is as follows:

I.1. first, the water transfer paper was spread flat, and then a layer of polyvinyl alcohol solution was coated on the surface of the water transfer paper, wherein the polyvinyl alcohol solution had the same function as in example 1 described above.

In this embodiment 4, for example, the coating of the polyvinyl alcohol solution is realized by spin coating, that is, the water transfer paper is attached to a rotating platform, and the PVA solution is uniformly dispersed on the whole surface of the water transfer paper by the rotation of the platform.

I.2. And attaching the flexible film to the surface of one side of the water transfer printing paper coated with the polyvinyl alcohol solution and paving the flexible film. The spreading is carried out in the same manner as in example 1, for example, by scraping with a cotton edge scraper or by rolling with a roller.

I.3. And heating the water transfer printing paper, the polyvinyl alcohol solution and the flexible film integrally, adjusting the heating temperature to 60-90 ℃, and heating for 10-20 minutes to solidify the polyvinyl alcohol solution to obtain the flexible film water transfer printing paper.

The heating apparatus commonly used is a heating plate or an oven, etc., which can cure the PVA and will not be described in detail herein.

The surface flatness of the flexible film water transfer paper prepared in the above steps is slightly inferior to that of the flexible film in the above example 1, and thus, the quality of the flexible film water transfer paper is slightly inferior to that of the above example 1.

This example 4 also enables the fabrication of flexible electrodes, but the quality of the electrode fabrication is slightly inferior to that of example 1.

Example 5

This example 5 describes a flexible electrode prepared based on the method of preparing the flexible electrode in any one of the above examples 1 to 4.

As shown in fig. 7, the flexible electrode is a metal electrode layer, a titanium layer or a chromium layer, and a flexible film water transfer paper composed of a flexible film and a water transfer paper in sequence from top to bottom.

The pattern structure of the flexible electrode comprises a periodic snake shape, an island bridge shape or a fractal structure and the like.

Because the stretching degree of each part of the human body is different, the flexible electrodes with different pattern structures adapt to the mechanical deformation of different positions of the human body, thereby better contacting with the skin surface of the human body.

Due to the existence of the flexible film (such as a PI film or a PET film), the metal electrode layer in the embodiment 5 has good stretchability and fitting performance, thereby being beneficial to improving the quality of collecting the bioelectrical signal.

The flexible electrode prepared in this example 5 was compared with conventional wet electrode (containing conductive gel) and gel-removed dry electrode in terms of contact resistance with skin, and it was found that the comparison was easy to find:

the contact impedance of the flexible electrode and the traditional wet electrode (containing conductive gel) prepared in the embodiment 5 with the skin is obviously lower than that of the de-gelled dry electrode, so that the quality of collecting the bioelectrical signals is well ensured.

However, as time goes by, the contact impedance is increased significantly due to the drying of the conductive gel in the conventional wet electrode, while the contact impedance with the skin of the flexible electrode manufactured in the embodiment 5 is hardly changed.

Therefore, the flexible electrode in this embodiment 5 is suitable for long-term monitoring of bioelectrical signals, and the signal acquisition quality is high.

The flexible electrode in this example 5 has the following applications:

the sensor can be used for collecting bioelectricity signals, such as myoelectricity, electrocardio, electroencephalogram and the like, and can evaluate the health condition of a human body through data analysis.

And secondly, the flexible circuit can be interconnected as an interconnection line, the interconnection of electronic components on substrates with different moduli is realized, and good electrical properties are still maintained in deformation engineering such as stretching and bending.

And thirdly, as a heater, the electrode can be attached to the surface of the skin of a human body to realize temperature regulation through different voltages, and the blood circulation capacity of the human body is effectively improved by temperature rise so as to realize drug absorption and wound healing.

Example 6

This embodiment 6 describes a method for using a flexible electrode, which is the method proposed in the foregoing embodiment 5, and the method for using the flexible electrode includes the following steps:

I. and attaching the flexible electrode to the surface of the skin of the human body, wherein the metal electrode layer is in contact with the surface of the skin of the human body.

And II, spraying a little water to the flexible electrode (water transfer paper), so that the water transfer paper is separated from the flexible film in the flexible electrode, and in the separation process, the water transfer paper slides laterally, so that the separation can be performed more effectively, as shown in fig. 8 (f).

Of course, the water in this embodiment may be replaced by alcohol, and by spraying a little alcohol to the flexible electrode (water transfer paper), the separation of the water transfer paper from the flexible film can also be achieved, and the alcohol can also be volatilized more quickly.

The use method in this embodiment 6 makes the flexible electrode transfer process simple, convenient, safe and reliable.

It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A preparation method of a flexible electrode is characterized by comprising the following steps:

2. The method for manufacturing a flexible electrode according to claim 1,

in the step II, a metal electrode layer is arranged on the surface of the flexible film based on a metal deposition or brushing process;

the metal electrode layer is made of gold, silver, copper, aluminum or nickel.

3. The method for manufacturing a flexible electrode according to claim 1,

in the step II, before the metal electrode layer is arranged on the surface of the flexible film, a titanium layer or a chromium layer is arranged.

4. The method for manufacturing a flexible electrode according to claim 1,

the electrode manufacturing mould is provided with a construction pattern, and the pattern structure comprises a periodic snake-shaped structure, an island bridge-shaped structure or a fractal structure.

5. The method for manufacturing a flexible electrode according to claim 1,

in the step III, the process of manufacturing the flexible electrode based on the embossing process is as follows:

6. The method for manufacturing a flexible electrode according to claim 1,

in the step I, the flexible film water transfer printing paper is prepared by the following steps:

7. The method for manufacturing a flexible electrode according to claim 1,

8. A preparation method of a flexible electrode is characterized by comprising the following steps:

II, an electrode manufacturing die is placed on the surface of the flexible film water transfer printing paper, and the whole patterning construction of the flexible film water transfer printing paper is completed based on an embossing process;

9. A flexible electrode, characterized in that,

prepared on the basis of the preparation method of the flexible electrode as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A method of using the flexible electrode of claim 9, comprising the steps of:

I. attaching the flexible electrode to the surface of the skin of a human body;