Ultra-stretchable, sensitive and breathable electronic skin based on TPU electrospinning fibrous membrane with microcrack structure for human motion monitoring and self-powered application

Abstract

With the rapid development of wearable electronic, electronic skin with excellent performance for human motion detection have been widely investigated recently. In this work, a multifunctional electronic skin with three-dimensional conductive network skeleton was prepared based on synergistic conductive filler (carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (C-MWCNT) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS)) decorated breathable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) electrospinning fibrous membrane. Then, microcrack structure was constructed via pre-stretching and the strain sensitivity of the resultant C-MWCNT/PEDOT:PSS/TPU (CPT) conductive fibrous membrane could be effectively adjusted by changing the microcrack density. Due to the three-dimensional conductive network skeleton, microcrack structure and the bridging effect of C-MWCNT between the adjacent crack fragments, ethylene glycol treated CPT (mass ratio of C-MWCNT and PEDOT:PSS is 9/1) (e-CPT9/1) strain sensor exhibited high sensitivity (6008.3), wide response range (680 %), fast response/recovery time (200 ms/200 ms), low detection limit (0.5 %), excellent durability and repeatability (6000 cycles). The excellent strain sensing performances enables it to accurately monitor motion activities and physiological signals, and can also be used as a smart sensing glove to identify different letters gesture and numeric gestures. Furthermore, owing to the photothermal conversion ability and thermoelectric effect of C-MWCNT and PEDOT:PSS, the obtained e-CPT9/1 device also displayed efficient “light-thermal-electric” conversion ability and showed the great potential as self-powered strain sensor.