Pumpless microfluidic sweat sensing yarn

Abstract

Textile sweat sensors possess immense potential for non-invasive health monitoring. Rapid in-situ sweat capture and prevention of its evaporation are crucial for accurate and stable real-time monitoring. Herein, we introduce a unidirectional, pump-free microfluidic sweat management system to tackle this challenge. A nanofiber sheath layer on micrometer-scale sensing filaments enables this pumpless microfluidic design. Utilizing the capillary effect of the nanofibers allows for the swift capture of sweat, while the differential configuration of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties of the sheath and core yarns prevents sweat evaporation. The Laplace pressure difference between the cross-scale fibers facilitates the management system to ultimately expulse sweat. This results in microfluidic control of sweat without the need for external forces, resulting in rapid (<5 s), sensitive (19.8 nA μM−1), and stable (with signal noise and drift suppression) sweat detection. This yarn sensor can be easily integrated into various fabrics, enabling the creation of health monitoring smart garments. The garments maintain good monitoring performance even after 20 washes. This work provides a solution for designing smart yarns for high-precision, stable, and non-invasive health monitoring.