Collagen-derived electronic skins: from biomimetic principles to multifunctional sensing and applications

Electronic skin (e-skin) holds significant potential for applications in health monitoring and human-machine interaction. However, conventional materials are often limited by poor biocompatibility and mechanical mismatch with biological tissues. Collagen and its derivatives, as naturally derived biopolymers, have emerged as an ideal matrix for constructing high-performance e-skin due to their exceptional biocompatibility, tunable biodegradability, mechanical properties that closely match human skin, and bioactivity endowed by abundant cell-recognition motifs. This review systematically presents the biomimetic design principles and advanced fabrication strategies of collagen-derived e-skins (CDE-Skins), including structural biomimicry, diversified manufacturing techniques, and conductive functionalization. It further examines their performance and underlying mechanisms in multimodal sensing, such as tactile, thermal, humidity, and biochemical sensing, elucidating the origins of their high sensitivity and stable signal response. The article also highlights representative applications in personalized telehealth monitoring, wound protection and therapy, and human-machine teleoperation. Concurrently, it outlines current challenges and offers perspectives on future research directions. This work aims to provide a comprehensive theoretical foundation to advance technological innovation and accelerate the practical translation of biocompatible e-skin technologies.