Fabrication of a Superhydrophobic Conductive Porous Film with Water-Resistance for Wearable Sensors

Abstract

Stretchable strain sensors have promising applications in flexible electronics field, such as artificial skin, health monitoring, and smart wearables. However, their anti-corrosion property, outstanding sensitivity, and environmental adaptability of strain sensors still remain a great challenge. Herein, a porous film was constructed by coating the stack of conductive fiber network with a 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane array via molecular self-assembly, which formed a superhydrophobic surface on the conductive film. The conductive porous film demonstrated the superior water-resistance interface with a water contact angle of 179.5° and favorable conductive stability in humid environments. In addition, the film can also exhibit a strain sensitivity in the wide range of 0–100%, a rapid response of 150–200 ms, and excellent stability. Meanwhile, the superhydrophobic surface has made droplets easier to slip off its surface during stretching, and the fog also has rapidly coalesced into droplets on the film. The outstanding superhydrophobic surface was attributed to the stable sensing performance under the sweat condition, showing great potential in wearable sensors of stretchable, breathable, and water-resistant for human behavior monitoring.