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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Zhiqiang HuORCiD
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© 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.Underwater flexible electronic skin (UFES) has emerged as a novel interdisciplinary field incorporating flexible electronics, advanced sensing technologies and artificial intelligence. It is increasingly recognized as a promising embodied perception component in marine systems. This review for the first time systematically summarizes the progress of UFESs for the most likely underwater scenarios, especially from the standpoint of various underwater task requirements. Compared with conventional rigid commercial sensors, UFES offers distinct advantages in mechanical compliance and interfacial conformability, which enables direct integration with the surfaces of marine equipment/marine organisms. This capability allows real-time sensing of near-field perturbations, surface load distributions as well as proprioception. Particular attention is given to representative studies and applications for marine robots, underwater wearables and underwater grippers. Key challenges and future research directions are discussed from the perspectives of adaptation to complex underwater environments, long-term operational stability and the integration with intelligent decision making. Combined with artificial intelligence models, UFESs have demonstrated the potential as a powerful unit for embodied perception integrating sensing, decision-making, and actuation.
Author(s): Yang T, Wang H, Hu Z, Xi Z, Liu J, Meng Z, Zhou X, Dai S, Zhao Q, Xu M
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Sensors and Actuators A: Physical
Year: 2026
Volume: 410
Issue: Part 1
Print publication date: 01/11/2026
Online publication date: 25/06/2026
Acceptance date: 24/06/2026
ISSN (print): 0924-4247
ISSN (electronic): 1873-3069
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2026.118160
DOI: 10.1016/j.sna.2026.118160
