<p>Bao is working to add the ability to detect chemicals and sense various kinds of biological molecules, the journal Advanced Materials reports. <br /><br />"With artificial skin, we can basically incorporate any function we desire," said Bao, Standord professor of chemical engineering. "That is why I call our skin 'super skin'. It is much more than what we think of as normal skin." <br /><br />Bao said she sees the super skin as much more than a super mimic of human skin. It could allow robots or other devices to perform functions beyond what human skin can do, according to a Stanford statement. <br /><br />The foundation for artificial skin is a flexible organic transistor, made with flexible polymers and carbon-based materials. To allow touch sensing, the transistor contains a thin, highly elastic rubber layer, moulded into a grid of tiny inverted pyramids. When pressed, this layer changes thickness, which changes the current flow through the transistor. <br /><br />The sensors have from several hundred thousand to 25 million pyramids per square centimetre, corresponding to the desired level of sensitivity. To sense a particular biological molecule, the surface of the transistor has to be coated with another molecule to which the first one will bind when it comes into contact.</p>
<p>Bao is working to add the ability to detect chemicals and sense various kinds of biological molecules, the journal Advanced Materials reports. <br /><br />"With artificial skin, we can basically incorporate any function we desire," said Bao, Standord professor of chemical engineering. "That is why I call our skin 'super skin'. It is much more than what we think of as normal skin." <br /><br />Bao said she sees the super skin as much more than a super mimic of human skin. It could allow robots or other devices to perform functions beyond what human skin can do, according to a Stanford statement. <br /><br />The foundation for artificial skin is a flexible organic transistor, made with flexible polymers and carbon-based materials. To allow touch sensing, the transistor contains a thin, highly elastic rubber layer, moulded into a grid of tiny inverted pyramids. When pressed, this layer changes thickness, which changes the current flow through the transistor. <br /><br />The sensors have from several hundred thousand to 25 million pyramids per square centimetre, corresponding to the desired level of sensitivity. To sense a particular biological molecule, the surface of the transistor has to be coated with another molecule to which the first one will bind when it comes into contact.</p>