Youngjin Kwon

(Advisor: Prof. Seung Soon Jang & Prof. W. Hong Yeo)

will propose a doctoral thesis entitled,

Development of soft materials and kirigami-based mechanical decoupling for motion-artifact reduction in wearable electronics

On

Tuesday, April 28th at 10:00 am

Marcus Nanotechnology Research Center Room #2107 

Abstract

Wearable bioelectronics enable continuous physiological monitoring but are fundamentally limited by motion artifacts arising from mechanical instability at the electrode–skin interface. This issue is particularly severe in dynamic conditions and non-conformal wearable systems, where motion-induced noise overlaps with low-frequency bio-signals such as EMG and EOG, making conventional structural or computational approaches insufficient.

In this work, we present a multi-scale strategy for motion artifact suppression that integrates structural design, geometrical optimization, and material-level damping. Kirigami-patterned structures are first introduced to achieve strain isolation by redistributing mechanical deformation away from the sensing interface, enabling stable EMG acquisition in freely moving ALS animal models. These structures are further optimized through systematic analysis of kirigami geometries, where hierarchical fractal patterns demonstrate improved strain isolation, reduced mechanical instability, and enhanced signal quality in dynamic applications.

To address non-conformal wearable systems, we develop a material-based approach using polyborosiloxane (PBS), a viscoelastic polymer with dynamic boroxine networks. Molecular dynamics simulations and rheological experiments reveal that boroxine-rich networks provide frequency-stable energy dissipation, enabling effective suppression of motion artifacts in EOG systems.

This work establishes a comprehensive framework that combines structural and material design strategies to enable robust bio-signal acquisition across diverse wearable platforms.

Committee

• Prof. Antonio Facchetti – School of Materials Science and Engineering
• Prof. Shucong Li – School of Materials Science and Engineering
• Prof. Peter Hesketh – School of Mechanical Engineering