Elastic MXene Hydrogel Microfiber-Derived Electronic Skin for Joint Monitoring

Abstract

Effective and timely joint monitoring has been a significantly vital research direction in human healthcare. As an emerging technology, flexible electronics provides more possibilities and applicabilities for practical sensing and signal transmission. Here, we provide novel elastic MXene microfibers of controllable morphologies at a microscale through microfluidic technology for actual joint motion monitoring. Double-network hydrogels including covalently cross-linking polyacrylamide and ionically cross-linking alginate were chosen for superelasticity. For the improvement of the electrical conductivity of superelastic hydrogel microfibers, MXene was selected to mix with them. By introducing the cross-linker to the outer channel, microfibers with controllable diameters along with high electrical conductivities and tensile properties could be fabricated successfully. The practical value of the synthesized microfibers in joint movement sensing has been demonstrated by acting as the element of new motion sensors. Based on these features, it is believed that these elastic MXene hydrogel microfibers have high potential for rapid sensing and diagnosis of joint diseases.

Stretchable, Adhesive, Self-Healable, and Conductive Hydrogel-Based Deformable Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Energy Harvesting and Human Motion Sensing

“…The resistance outputs increase as the bending angle becomes larger, which is ascribed to an increase in the deformation length of hydrogels. The recognition of the joint movement angle is contributed to realizing the remote operation of robot motion in real time, which shows the prospect of this hydrogel-based sensor in artificial intelligence and human–machine interactions. , The human motion state can be monitored by fixing the hydrogel-based sensor on the knee. As shown in Figure h, walking and running can be easily distinguished from different resistance signals.…”

Conductive Materials with Elaborate Micro/Nanostructures for Bioelectronics

“…Similarly, helical calcium alginate (Ca-Alg) hydrogel microfibers with MXene (Ti 3 C 2 ) encapsulation were presented by Guo et al through a co-flow microfluidic system. [158,159]…”

Applications of MXenes in human-like sensors and actuators

“…First, MXene shows high electrical conductivity (6,000-8,000 S•cm −1 ), exceeding a large number of two-dimensional materials [115]. Second, MXene promotes the recognition of heavy metals [116], humidity [117], hydrogen peroxide [118], acetaminophen [119], biomarkers in whole blood [120], refractive index [121], acoustic sound [122,123], and human motion [124,125] in different types of sensors [98]. Solution-gated transistors provide great sensitivity and cycling performances [126].…”