Alveolus-Inspired Active Membrane Sensors for Self-Powered Wearable Chemical Sensing and Breath Analysis

Abstract

Fossil fuel internal combustion engines generate and release a huge amount of nitrogen dioxide, leading to respiratory and allergic diseases such as asthma, pneumonia, and possibly tuberculosis. Here we develop an alveolus-inspired membrane sensor (AIMS) for self-powered wearable nitrogen dioxide detection and personal physiological assessment. The bionic AIMS exhibits an excellent sensitivity up to 452.44%, a good linearity of 0.976, and superior selectivity under a NO2 concentration of 50 ppm. Furthermore, the AIMS can also be employed to diagnose human breath behaviors for breath analysis. The fundamental sensing mechanism is established using a combination of thermodynamic analysis, finite-element analysis, and phase-field simulations. It is found that the depolarization field inside the sensitive materials plays a crucial role in the self-powered gas-sensing performance. This work not only provides an efficient, low-cost, portable, and environmentally friendly means for active environmental assessment and personal biomonitoring but also provides a deep understanding of the gas-sensing mechanisms.

Electrostatic self-assembly enabled flexible paper-based humidity sensor with high sensitivity and superior durability

“…In recent years, with the rapid growth of intelligent technology such as the internet of things and human-machine interface, a variety of devices have been developed for air quality monitoring [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , disease screening and diagnosis [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , human motion detecting [9] , [10] , [11] , and so on. Humidity is one of the essential indexes of air, which is important for industrial and agricultural production and our daily life.…”

Respiration‐driven triboelectric nanogenerators for biomedical applications

“…Therefore, by utilizing gas-responsive materials as the dielectric materials for charge generation, TENG could be designed for gas sensing without the need of additional power. [98][99][100][101] Wang et al developed a respiration-driven TENG system that could detect trace-level NH 3 in the exhaled air. 98 NH 3 is a biomarker for diagnosing certain diseases (such as ulcers).…”

“…By using WO 3 as the gas-responsive material, Su et al made an alveolus-shaped TENG sensor possessing a high sensibility toward NO 2 , which is the cause of pulmonary edema and respiratory diseases ( Figure 4F). 99 The gas inflation and deflation due to respiration could enable the CS between the latex film and the sensitive WO 3 film, F I G U R E 4 Filtration and gas sensing by respiration-driven TENGs. A, Schematic of a TENG-based smart mask filtering particles and its working mechanism.…”

“…Reproduced with permission: Copyright 2020, the American Chemical Society. 99 ESNF, electrospun nanofiber film; PVDF, polyvinylidene fluoride; TENG, triboelectric nanogenerator and generate electricity. A high response of 340.24% and linearity of 0.976 were achieved when this sensor was exposed to 80 ppm of NO 2 ( Figure 4H).…”

A Single‐Material Multi‐Source Energy Harvester, Multifunctional Sensor, and Integrated Harvester–Sensor System—Demonstration of Concept

“…Work on energy-harvester-based self-powered sensors have been previously reported. [12][13][14][15][16][17] Recently, particular attention has been paid to smart textiles/ fabrics, wearable devices, and industrial sensors powered by kinetic and solar energy harvesters. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Other emerging applications such as the harvesting of waste heat from lithium-ion batteries have also been investigated.…”