An ultralight, flexible, and biocompatible all-fiber motion sensor for artificial intelligence wearable electronics

Abstract

New-generation human body motion sensors for wearable electronics and intelligent medicine are required to comply with stringent requirements in terms of ultralight weight, flexibility, stability, biocompatibility, and extreme precision. However, conventional sensors are hard to fulfill all these criteria due to their rigid structure, high-density sensing materials used as the constituents, as well as hermetical and compact assembly strategy. Here, we report an ultralight sensing material based on radial anisotropic porous silver fiber (RAPSF), which has been manufactured by phase separation and temperature-controlled grain growth strategy on a modified blow-spinning system. The resistance of RAPSF could be dynamically adjusted depending on the deflected shape. Furthermore, an all-fiber motion sensor (AFMS) with an ultra-low density of 68.70 mg cm−3 and an overall weigh of 7.95 mg was fabricated via layer-by-layer assembly. The sensor exhibited outstanding flexibility, breathability, biocompatibility, and remarkable body motion recognition ability. Moreover, the AFMS was shown to have great potential as an artificial intelligence throat sensor for throat state identification at the accuracy above 85%, allowing one to spot the early onset of the viral throat illness.