Plant-Based Modular Building Blocks for "Green" Electronic Skins

Electronic skins (e-skins) are a hot research topic with applications in many areas of modern science. Considering the economic viability and sustainability of devices for practical applications, green devices are currently in high demand because they are safe, sustainable, and efficient wearable systems. With natural hierarchical and fiber-shape structures and biological activities, plants are earth-abundant sustainable materials and are excellent "green" candidates to prepare electrodes for e-skins. This review covers recent progress in the use of natural plants for e-skins and highlights their advantages and main functions, for example, biodegradation, mechanical matching, and physical interactions. It is also discussed how the versatility of these materials can further advance next-generation, sustainable, flexible e-skins and the integration of such devices into living environments, which would enable practical application of these systems. Finally, challenges for employing plant materials in green e-skins are addressed.