Smart electronic skin (E-skin) is an emerging technology that integrates electronic devices with human skin, enhancing human-machine interactions. One critical challenge in its development is effective thermal management to ensure device reliability, longevity, and user comfort. This review highlights passive cooling techniques - thermal conduction, convection, radiation, and phase-change materials - as key strategies to address this challenge without additional power consumption. These integrated mechanisms have demonstrated the ability to efficiently dissipate heat, preventing thermal buildup and maintaining optimal performance in E-skin devices. Recent advancements indicate that combining these methods can significantly enhance the thermal management of flexible electronics. Future research should focus on refining these materials and techniques to overcome challenges related to cost, durability, and environmental stability, thereby advancing the practical application of E-skin technology.

Citations

• Wearable sweat glucose monitoring patches enabled by double network hydrogel-MoS2/PEDOT: PSS nanocomposite
  Suraj Shinde, Omkar A. Patil, Sang Yoon Park, Se Jin Choi, Omkar Pawar, Daniel J. Joe, Sooman Lim, Han Eol Lee
  Microchemical Journal.2025; 215: 114309.     CrossRef

Current progress in the development of semiconductor technology in applications involving high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) and power devices is hindered by the lack of adequate ways todissipate heat generated during device operation. Concurrently, electronic devices that use gallium nitride (GaN) substrates do not perform well, because of the poor heat dissipation of the substrate. Suggested alternatives for overcoming these limitations include integration of high thermal conductivity material like diamond near the active device areas. This study will address a critical development in the art of GaN on diamond (GOD) structure by designing for ideal heat dissipation, in order to create apathway with the least thermal resistance and to improve the overall ease of integrating diamond heat spreaders into future electronic devices. This research has been carried out by means of heat transfer simulation, which has been successfully demonstrated by a finite-element method.