Stretchable and Highly Permeable Nanofibrous Sensors for Detecting Complex Human Body Motion

Abstract

Wearable strain sensors have been attracting special attention in the detection of human posture and activity, as well as for the assessment of physical rehabilitation and kinematics. However, it is a challenge to fabricate stretchable and comfortable‐to‐wear permeable strain sensors that can provide highly accurate and continuous motion recording while exerting minimal constraints and maintaining low interference with the body. Herein, covalently grafting nanofibrous polyaniline (PANI) onto stretchable elastomer nanomeshes is reported to obtain a freestanding ultrathin (varying from 300 to 10 000 nm) strain sensor that has high gas permeability (10–33 mg h–1). The sensor demonstrates a low weight and can be directly laminated onto the dynamic human skin for long periods of time. The sensor, which produces an intimate connection with solid or living objects, has a stable performance with excellent sustainability, linearity, durability, and low hysteresis. It exibits excellent performance for continuous interrogation of complex movements, mimicking muscle activities, and resembling brain activity. This includes a very precise discrimination of bending and twisting stimuli at different angles (1–180°) and speeds (3–18 rpm) and very low exertion of counter‐interference. These results imply the utility of this appraoch for advanced developments of robotic e‐skins or e‐muscles.

Supramolecular topology controlled self-healing conformal hydrogels for stable human–machine interfaces

“…From a mechanical perspective, hydrogels used for HMIs must have sufficient stability to adapt to the unpredictable shapes of skin or mechanical interfaces, so as to eliminate motion artifacts and improve the accuracy of monitoring. Doping carbon nanotubes 9 and other conductive polymers [10][11][12][13] into hydrogels is an effective method to improve the signal transmission stability of e-skin. However, the extensibility and adhesion capabilities are often sacrificed, however, these are two highly critical factors when developing conformal hydrogels for stable HMIs.…”

Application of Hybrid Electrically Conductive Hydrogels Promotes Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

“…PANi is synthesized from aniline monomers by electrochemical or chemical oxidation polymerization and has excellent conductivity and good biocompatibility [ 66 ]. Studies have shown that composite conductive materials based on PANi can promote the proliferation and differentiation of neurons [ 67 , 68 ].…”

High-performance piezoresistive flexible pressure sensor based on wrinkled microstructures prepared from discarded vinyl records and ultra-thin, transparent polyaniline films for human health monitoring

“…The advantages of polymers as sensing materials are their lightweight, flexibility, low-cost, and mature preparation processes, which make them very attractive in the electronics field. [27][28][29][30] Of all these conductive polymers, PANI appears to be the most promising candidate, and its conductivity can be altered in a variety of doping ways to suit requirements. 31 Furthermore, the sensitivity of PANI to humidity can be used to implement breathing monitoring functions of flexible sensors.…”