The transition to a sustainable society is driving the development of green electronic solutions designed to have a minimal environmental impact. One promising route to achieve this goal is to construct electronics from biobased materials like cellulose, which is carbon neutral, non‐toxic, and recyclable. This is especially true for internet‐of‐things devices, which are rapidly growing in number and are becoming embedded in every aspect of our lives. Here, paper‐based sensor circuits are demonstrated, which use triboelectric pressure sensors to help elderly people communicate with the digital world using an interface in the form of an electronic “book”, which is more intuitive to them. The sensors are manufactured by screen printing onto flexible paper substrates, using in‐house developed cellulose‐based inks with non‐hazardous solvents. The triboelectric sensor signal, generated by the contact between a finger and chemically modified cellulose, can reach several volts, which can be registered by a portable microcontroller card and transmitted by Bluetooth to any device with an internet connection. Apart from the microcontroller (which can be easily removed), the whole system can be recycled at the end of life. A triboelectric touch interface, manufactured using printed electronics on flexible paper substrates, using cellulose‐based functional inks is demonstrated. These metal‐free green electronics circuits are implemented in an “electronic book” demonstrator, equipped with wireless communication that can control remote devices, as a step toward sustainable and recyclable internet‐of‐things devices.

Body area networks (BANs), cloud computing, and machine learning are platforms that can potentially enable advanced healthcare outside the hospital. By applying distributed sensors and drug delivery devices on/in our body and connecting to such communication and decision-making technology, a system for remote diagnostics and therapy is achieved with additional autoregulation capabilities. Challenges with such autarchic on-body healthcare schemes relate to integrity and safety, and interfacing and transduction of electronic signals into biochemical signals, and vice versa. Here, we report a BAN, comprising flexible on-body organic bioelectronic sensors and actuators utilizing two parallel pathways for communication and decision-making. Data, recorded from strain sensors detecting body motion, are both securely transferred to the cloud for machine learning and improved decision-making, and sent through the body using a secure body-coupled communication protocol to auto-actuate delivery of neurotransmitters, all within seconds. We conclude that both highly stable and accurate sensing—from multiple sensors—are needed to enable robust decision making and limit the frequency of retraining. The holistic platform resembles the self-regulatory properties of the nervous system, i.e., the ability to sense, communicate, decide, and react accordingly, thus operating as a digital nervous system. © 2021, The Author(s).

Biological systems use a large variety of ions and molecules of different sizes for signaling. Precise electronic regulation of biological systems therefore requires an interface which translates the electronic signals into chemically specific biological signals. One technology for this purpose that has been developed during the last decade is the organic electronic ion pump (OEIP). To date, OEIPs have been fabricated by micropatterning and labor-intensive manual techniques, hindering the potential application areas of this promising technology. Here we show, for the first time, fully screen-printed OEIPs. We demonstrate a large-area printed design with manufacturing yield >90%. Screen-printed cation- and anion-exchange membranes are both demonstrated with promising ion selectivity and performance, with transport verified for both small ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Cl^–) and biologically-relevant molecules (the cationic neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and the anionic anti-inflammatory salicylic acid). These advances open the 'iontronics' toolbox to the world of printed electronics, paving the way for a broader arena for applications.