According to a study published in the journal Science, researchers have created a single, layered, soft, and flexible material with integrated nerve-like circuitry that can feel pressure, temperature, strain, and other properties of actual skin and communicate with the brain.  

Researchers from Stanford University have produced soft integrated circuits that convert sensed pressure or temperature to electrical signals similar to nerve impulses to communicate with the brain.

In the study, the researchers developed a tri-layer dielectric structure that increased the mobility of electrical charge carriers by 30 times over single-layer dielectrics, allowing the circuits to operate at low voltage. Surprisingly, one of the three layers is nitrile, the same material used in medical gloves. The vast bulk of e-skin is composed of many layers of skin-like materials.

The researchers revealed that organic nanostructure networks that carry electrical impulses even when stretched are integrated into each layer. Each sensory input is equipped with an integrated circuit. They also revealed that different sensory layers can be fused to form a single monolithic material that does not delaminate, rip, or lose electrical function.

Each electrical layer is only a few tens to hundreds of nanometers thick, and the completed material is less than a micron in thickness, similar to the thickness of human skin. The researchers also revealed that the new e-skin runs on just 5 volts and can detect stimuli similar to real skin. 

(Source: https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1081252 )