Recent advances in conducting gels for flexible and stretchable smart electronic devices: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Conducting gels have garnered significant attention due to their distinctive properties, such as unique electrical/thermal conductivity, biocompatibility, flexibility, stretchability, and transparency. These gels adeptly combine the viscoelastic features with the combination of organic, metal, and semiconductor components. Consequently, these gels have become the subject of extensive exploration across various fields, encompassing tactile sensors, power generation systems, actuators, wearable electronics, and biomedical devices. Their potential applications extend beyond these fields to encompass human–machine interfaces, artificial intelligence, and other implementations. This review provides a comprehensive examination of the synthesis methods for various electrically conducting gels, such as hydrogels, organogels, metal–organic gels, and perovskite gels. Furthermore, this study investigates the promising applications of these gels across various fields, focusing on their potential use in energy storage, energy harvesting devices, and advanced sensors. Resolutely, the review outlines both the prospects and challenges in further research endeavors concerning the development and utilization of these remarkable gels for boosting the evolution of cutting-edge mechanically versatile intelligent stretchable skin-like devices.