Tattoo‐Paper Transfer as a Versatile Platform for All‐Printed Organic Edible Electronics

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 30; no. 14; pp. e1706091 - n/a
• Main Authors: Bonacchini, Giorgio E., Bossio, Caterina, Greco, Francesco, Mattoli, Virgilio, Kim, Yun‐Hi, Lanzani, Guglielmo, Caironi, Mario
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.04.2018
• Subjects: Biomedical materials; Biomimetics; cytotoxicity; Diagnostic software; Diagnostic systems; edible electronics; Electronic devices; Electronics; Food; Food processing industry; Materials science; organic bioelectronics; printed electronics; Semiconductor devices; Substrates; Tattoos; tattoo‐paper; Transistors; edible electronics; organic bioelectronics; printed electronics; tattoo-paper; cytotoxicity
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201706091

The use of natural or bioinspired materials to develop edible electronic devices is a potentially disruptive technology that can boost point‐of‐care testing. The technology exploits devices that can be safely ingested, along with pills or even food, and operated from within the gastrointestinal tract. Ingestible electronics can potentially target a significant number of biomedical applications, both as therapeutic and diagnostic tool, and this technology may also impact the food industry, by providing ingestible or food‐compatible electronic tags that can “smart” track goods and monitor their quality along the distribution chain. Temporary tattoo‐paper is hereby proposed as a simple and versatile platform for the integration of electronics onto food and pharmaceutical capsules. In particular, the fabrication of all‐printed organic field‐effect transistors on untreated commercial tattoo‐paper, and their subsequent transfer and operation on edible substrates with a complex nonplanar geometry is demonstrated. Temporary tattoo‐paper is proposed as a simple and versatile platform for the integration of biocompatible organic electronics onto food and pharmaceutical capsules. The fabrication of all‐printed biocompatible organic transistors and complementary logic on untreated commercial tattoo‐paper, and their subsequent transfer to and operation on edible substrates is demonstrated, paving the way for novel point‐of‐care devices and smart food labels.