The smart wearable system composed of stretchable electronics and bodysuits is the focus in healthcare and human-machine interaction due to the high integration and excellent conformability. Despite advances in stretchable electronics in recent years, the stretchability mismatch persists between zippers and stretchable fabrics, which are key components of bodysuits, affecting the systems’ functions, comfort, and aesthetic. Furthermore, the requirements for the installation position and angle of electronics during integration are usually not conducive to convenient adjustment or replacement in daily life, thereby indirectly limiting the personalized deployment of wearable systems. Stretchability and cross-configuration of zippers are effective solutions to the aforementioned challenges.
The research group led by Prof. Yewang Su at the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, successfully developed a crossed stretchable zipper. This innovation resolves the intrinsic conflict between the need for compact tooth arrangement in traditional zippers and the demand for stretchability in stretchable zippers. It also overcomes key technical obstacles in cross-configurations, including insufficient interference resistance and the inability to achieve reliable zipping/unzipping in overlapping regions. The works titled “Stretchable Zipper” (published on October 20, 2025) and “Crossed stretchable zipper” were published in Soft Science (published on January 6, 2026).
The stretchable zipper based on bioinspired structure design is proposed, which achieves interlocking through interlaced-spatulate teeth, suppresses separation perpendicular to interlocking surfaces via suture-joint mechanism, and prevents excessive inter-tooth distance by hook-furrow stretching limiter. The proposed stretchable zipper exhibits a strain of up to 25%, exceeding the strain capability of traditional zippers by 200%. Meanwhile, a novel slider is designed to ensure smooth zipping/unzipping of the stretchable zipper across the entire strain range. To enable cross-configuration, a cross adaptor is proposed. It achieves zipping in overlapping regions through sub-part interlocking, suppresses failure by latch-slot structure and suture-joint mechanism after interlocking. The combination of the cross adaptor and the stretchable zipper enables the cross-configuration of zippers while ensuring stretchability.
Applications in hemiplegic rehabilitation wearable systems demonstrate the significant advantages of the stretchable zipper in adapting to stretching and enhancing conformity, markedly reducing constraints on deformation of the area covered by the zipper. In addition, the modular solution based on the crossed stretchable zipper drastically lowers the barriers to electronics, holding significant implications for the personalization and popularization of smart wearable systems.
DOI:
10.20517/ss.2025.66