High strength polyurethane ionogel as a wearable strain sensor for human activity monitoring

Abstract

Due to their superior elasticity and electroconductibility as soft wearable sensors, ionogels have received a lot of investigation. Electronic skin sensors based on traditional ionogel frequently have poor mechanical qualities, poor durability, and poor temperature resistance. Here, a new waterborne polyurethane based macromolecular cross-linker (MPU) is developed and used to create an ionogel containing 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumdicyanamide (EMIM:DCA). Importantly, due of the internal hydrogen bonding, ionogels exhibit extraordinary mechanical properties with a strain value of 1.27 MPa, a deformation at breaking of 267%, and excellent puncture resistance. At normal temperature, EMIM:DCA gives the ionogels high electroconductibility. When combined as wireless strain sensors, the ionogel sensors exhibit exceptional sensing capabilities to track real-time mechanical conduction signals of human movement. It indicates that the ionogels as developed hold a lot of promise for wearable devices.