Stretchable Sweat‐Activated Battery in Skin‐Integrated Electronics for Continuous Wireless Sweat Monitoring

Abstract

Wearable electronics have attracted extensive attentions over the past few years for their potential applications in health monitoring based on continuous data collection and real‐time wireless transmission, which highlights the importance of portable powering technologies. Batteries are the most used power source for wearable electronics, but unfortunately, they consist of hazardous materials and are bulky, which limit their incorporation into the state‐of‐art skin‐integrated electronics. Sweat‐activated biocompatible batteries offer a new powering strategy for skin‐like electronics. However, the capacity of the reported sweat‐activated batteries (SABs) cannot support real‐time data collection and wireless transmission. Focused on this issue, soft, biocompatible, SABs are developed that can be directly integrated on skin with a record high capacity of 42.5 mAh and power density of 7.46 mW cm−2 among the wearable sweat and body fluids activated batteries. The high performance SABs enable powering electronic devices for a long‐term duration, for instance, continuously lighting 120 lighting emitting diodes (LEDs) for over 5 h, and also offers the capability of powering Bluetooth wireless operation for real‐time recording of physiological signals for over 6 h. Demonstrations of the SABs for powering microfluidic system based sweat sensors are realized in this work, allowing real‐time monitoring of pH, glucose, and Na+ in sweat.

Artificial Neural Network-Assisted Wearable Flexible Sweat Patch for Drug Management in Parkinson’s Patients Based on Vacancy-Engineered Processing of g-C3N4

“…With the advent of the digital age, smart wearable devices and health management systems have received a lot of attention due to the ease with which they can be used to monitor individual health anywhere, anytime. − Currently, commercially available wearable sensors usually focus on physical metrics including body temperature, heart rate, human movement, and falls. As a non-invasive and easily accessible biofluid, sweat has been used to monitor human physiology and assess individual health status due to the presence of various biomarkers such as glucose, urea, amino acids, electrolytes, and levodopa ( l -dopa). − For example, the standard diagnosis used to detect cystic fibrosis is usually quantified by assessing the concentration of chloride, and glucose in sweat is used to monitor diabetes and hypoglycemia. − In the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD), dynamic monitoring of l -dopa in sweat can be used to assess the development of pharmacological management and non-motor complications . It is critical to note that sweat monitoring for biomarkers such as glucose and cortisol in situ is dependent on enzymes or antibodies. − However, it is a fact that has to be acknowledged that natural enzymes and antibodies are susceptible to degradation after exposure to harsh environments or contamination by body fluids, and, as a result, exhibit an associated loss of functionality that greatly affects the lifetime and accuracy of sweat sensors.…”

Advances in Microfluidics: Technical Innovations and Applications in Diagnostics and Therapeutics

“…The filler, composed of hydrogel, enhances sweat uptake by lowering sweat secretion pressure and minimizing accumulation volumes. On the integrated battery front, Liu et al developed a stretchable sweat-activated battery that exhibits a record high power density (7.46 mW/cm 2 ) and energy capacitance (42.5 mAh) . The improved battery performance, which is based on the chemical reaction between Zn and CuSO 4 , enables longer-term operation of wearable electronics.…”

“…On the integrated battery front, Liu et al developed a stretchable sweat-activated battery that exhibits a record high power density (7.46 mW/cm 2 ) and energy capacitance (42.5 mAh). 129 The improved battery performance, which is based on the chemical reaction between Zn and CuSO 4 , enables longer-term operation of wearable electronics. Choi et al introduced a skin-interfaced platform with improved mechanical robustness for applications in physically demanding scenarios.…”

Wearable Near-Field Communication Sensors for Healthcare: Materials, Fabrication and Application

“…It seems that this classification is better for us to design wearable NFC sensors for healthcare. Biophysical signal sensors are the most standardized of the applications for wearable sensors [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. Body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and muscle stretching, etc., are examples of physical signals directly related to people health.…”