Highly sensitive and extremely durable wearable e-textiles of graphene/carbon nanotube hybrid for cardiorespiratory monitoring

Abstract

Electroconductive textile yarns are of particular interest for their use as flexible and wearable sensors without compromising the properties and comfort of usual textiles. However, the detection of fine actions of the human body is quite challenging since it requires both the relatively higher sensitivity and stability of the sensor. Herein, highly sensitive, ultra-stable, and extremely durable piezoresistive wearable sensors were prepared by loading N-doped rGO and polydopamine-coated carbon nanotubes into silicon rubber tube. The wearable sensors thus produced show an excellent ability to sense subtle movement or stimuli with good sensitivity and repeatability. Furthermore, by bending the straight conductive silicon rubber tube (CSRT) into three different patterns, its sensitivity was then dramatically increased. Finally, the CSRT was found capable of sensing cardiorespiratory signals, indicating that the sensor would be an important step toward realizing bio-signal sensing for next-generation personalized health care applications.