Mussel‐Inspired Flexible, Durable, and Conductive Fibers Manufacturing for Finger‐Monitoring Sensors

Abstract

particular 3D structure, such as sponges, the electroconductivity is poorly containable because the 3D structure, as a spatial mask, decreases the uniformity and continuity of the deposited metal films initiated by gravity. [18] Recently, Liu et al. reported the polymer-assisted metal deposition by surface-initiated atomic transfer radical polymerization. [19] The designed polymer interface introduces covalent bonds between the surface of fibers and grafted polymer brushes and viscoelastic and high-swelling intrinsic properties of polymers provide the nanometer-scale mechanical interlocking of deposited nanoparticles within brushes. Although the resultant conductive yarns are highly durable and washable, the polymerization requires an inert N 2 protection and complex steps. Moreover, the target substrates have to contain abundant hydroxyl groups. On the other hand, with the booming development of novel materials, which can be employed in wearable electronics as their variety of performances, how to develop a new surface modification method which can be used in virtually any substrate and create conductive composites is important.According to Lee's report, [20] dopamine which mimics the adhesive chemistry of mussel plaque detachment allows the spontaneous deposition of nanoscale-thin, surface-adherent films of poly(dopamine) (PDA) on virtually all material surfaces such as polymers, ceramics, semiconductors, and novel metals by simple dip-coating in an alkaline solution. More importantly, secondary reactions can be used to produce a variety of ad-layers on the top of PDA, including metal films by electroless metallization. [21] In some reports, silver (Ag) was coated on different fibers, such as polyester polyethylene terephthalate (PET), meta-aramid, glass, cotton, and polyurethane, via PDA-assisted electroless deposition (ELD). [22][23][24][25][26] However, in accordance with Zheng's review work, [27] silver, as a conductive coating material, is much more expensive than copper and nickel. More importantly, according to the European Commission and its nonfood Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks, there are still some arguments related to the toxicity of silver nanoparticles and additional adverse effects caused by the use of silver nanoparticles should be further evaluated.To address the challenges, we report here a simple, versatile, and scalable approach for preparing highly durable, washable, and electrically conductive fibers and yarns by electroless nickel (Ni) plating on fiber surfaces modified with PDA as adhesive layers. Copper (Cu) can be an alternative coating choice due to the high conductivity and low price. However, the Here a bioinspired facile and versatile method is reported for fabricating highly durable, washable, and electrically conductive fibers and yarns. Self-polymerized dopamine plays as adherent layers for substrates and then captures Pd 2+ catalyst for subsequent metal deposition on substrates. The Pd 2+ ions are chelated and partially reduced to nanoparticl...

Recent Advances in 1D Stretchable Electrodes and Devices for Textile and Wearable Electronics: Materials, Fabrications, and Applications

“…Therefore, many efforts have been made over the last decades to develop various textile electronics for wearable human−machine interfaces, biomedical applications, and smart sportswear . In this regard, stretchable and wearable electronic devices in the 1D form, which can be directly integrated into daily clothes without any inconsistency, are greatly promising for future wearable electronics . In addition, the hierarchical property of the fibrous structures (fiber: a small and short piece of a strand, filament: a long strand, yarn: an intertwined 1D structure of fibers or filaments, and fabric: a flexible substance consisting of a network of yarns) makes 1D electronic devices and systems remarkably suitable for advanced wearable electronics.…”

Whole System Design of a Wearable Magnetic Induction Sensor for Physical Rehabilitation

“…Nickel‐coated fiber synthesis is an improvement on our previous reports . The nickel electroless plating was performed in an ELD bath containing 1:1 volumetric proportion of nickel‐to‐reductant stocks at room temperature.…”

The Evolution of Flexible Electronics: From Nature, Beyond Nature, and To Nature

“…Flexible integrated sensors, represented by e-skin, are regarded as the next generation wearable technology for their wide applicability in digital healthcare [259] and internet of things (IoT), [260,261] with the need to be powered by external power source. [262] The pursuit of self-powered electronics based on energy harvesting technologies by extracting energy from the ambient environment and converting to electricity are rather intriguing for the development of compact, flexible, and wearable devices without the utilization of heavy batteries. [263][264][265][266][267][268] This section will review on the self-powered sensors with various sensing functionality, [269] such as light detecting, [270] gas sensing, [271,272] motion sensing, [273,274] physiological signals sensing, [275] etc., which were based on the energy-harvesting technologies including photovoltaic, [276,277] thermoelectric, [278,279] piezoelectric, [280,281] and triboelectric effect, [282][283][284] etc.…”