Abstract
Body-attachable sensors can be applied to electronic skin (e-skin) as well as safety forewarning and health monitoring systems. However, achieving facile fabrication of high-performance, cost-effective sensors with mechanical stability in response to deformation due to body movement is challenging. Herein we report the material design, fabrication and characteristics of a skin-like stretchable array of multi-functional (MF) sensors based on a single sensing material of polyurethane foam coated with multi-walled carbon nanotube/polyaniline nanocomposite, which enables simultaneous detection of body temperature, wrist pulse and ammonia gas. These sensors exhibit high sensitivity, fast response and excellent durability. Furthermore, the fabricated sensor array shows stable performance under biaxial stretching up to 50% and attachment to skin owing to the use of direct-printed Galinstan liquid metal interconnections. This work proposes a facile method for fabrication of high-performance, stretchable MF sensors via appropriate selection of sensor design and functional materials that are applicable to e-skin and health monitoring systems.
Highlights
Wearable electronics have attracted considerable attention for use in electronic skin (e-skin) and health monitoring systems in order for a comfortable and secure life.[1,2,3,4,5] e-Skin is a human interactive device that can simultaneously sense signals from the body and respond to the environment
More detailed optical images and Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of MWCNTs, PANI and MWCNT-PANI are shown in Supplementary Figures S1–S3
After polymerization of MWCNTs with PANI, additional peaks that are characteristic of protonated PANI appear at 1170 and 1504 cm − 1.25,26 The fabricated sensor array is conformally integrated on the skin and is mechanically stable under stretching as well as bending and twisting deformations (Figure 1c)
Summary
Wearable electronics have attracted considerable attention for use in electronic skin (e-skin) and health monitoring systems in order for a comfortable and secure life.[1,2,3,4,5] e-Skin is a human interactive device that can simultaneously sense signals from the body and respond to the environment. It should be capable of measuring the five types of senses (taste, sight, hearing, olfactory and touch sensation) with high sensitivity and show mechanical stability against deformation due to skin movement. Many powergeneration devices, such as solar cells and a readable signal in addition to the flowing current.[11]
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