Self‐Powered Stretchable Mechanoluminescent Optical Fiber Strain Sensor

Abstract

Strain sensors that can work sustainably and continuously without any external power supply are highly desirable for future wearable and implantable devices. Herein, a self‐powered stretchable strain sensor based on the integration of mechanoluminescent phosphors with an elastomer optical fiber is proposed and developed. This mechanoluminescent optical fiber is capable of emitting light just driven by external strain, without the need of an external light source or electric power. The strain‐induced emitted light can be collected and guided along the mechanoluminescent optical fiber. The sensor exhibits linear strain response up to 50% and high‐accuracy strain measurement (±1%). Moreover, this optical fiber strain sensor displays consistent signals over 10 000 stretch–release motion cycles, which demonstrates the good durability of the sensor. Due to the excellent light confinement of the elastomer optical fiber, this strain sensor is demonstrated in both bright‐ and dark‐field measurements, wearable gloves, and an implantable sensing device, thereby demonstrating potential as a promising technology for future self‐powered optical sensor systems.

Mn2+-activated dual-wavelength emitting materials toward wearable optical fibre temperature sensor

“…Because of the similar excitation spectra and different thermal quenching behaviours of the two emission bands, the promising application of Li 2 Zn 0.85 SiO 4 :0.15Mn 2+ in wearable temperature sensors was investigated. To endow the sensor with good light guidance and sensing performance, transparent optical encapsulant (OE) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with a high refractive index (RI) difference were selected as the matrix materials to fabricate flexible optical fibre 38 , and the designed fibre with a double-cladding and double-tail fibre structure was provided in Fig. 4a .…”

High-Strength and Extensible Electrospun Yarn for Wearable Electronics

“…4,5 The potential applications of wearable electronic systems were developed, for example, in strain sensor-based yarns, 6,7 stretchable circuits, 8,9 human motion detection, 10,11 and selfpowered electronic fabrics. 12,13 Different methods have been employed to enhance the conductivity of fibers including metal nanowires, coating the fibers with conductive films, and conductive polymers for highly stretchable electronics in the field of wearable energy devices 14−16 and wearable sensors. 17−20 A conductive polymer yarn, comprising a polymer and conductive materials, is counted as a promising candidate to diminish the defect of the earliest rigidity and difficult to bend or stretch fiber-based sensors because of its good flexibility and restorability of electrical conductivity.…”

“…With the advantages of being affordable and extensively accessible, fabrics have recently attracted the wearable electronics field. − Highly conductive yarns are ultimate candidates for wearable electronics because of their flexibility, fiber-shaped, wearability, and conformability characteristics. , The potential applications of wearable electronic systems were developed, for example, in strain sensor-based yarns, , stretchable circuits, , human motion detection, , and self-powered electronic fabrics. , Different methods have been employed to enhance the conductivity of fibers including metal nanowires, coating the fibers with conductive films, and conductive polymers for highly stretchable electronics in the field of wearable energy devices − and wearable sensors. − A conductive polymer yarn, comprising a polymer and conductive materials, is counted as a promising candidate to diminish the defect of the earliest rigidity and difficult to bend or stretch fiber-based sensors because of its good flexibility and restorability of electrical conductivity. − Even though a conductive polymer yarn fabricated by the coating technique exhibits electrical conductivity and great stretchability, the durability and repeatability cannot satisfy the working conditions over a lengthy operating period because of the weak adhesion among the polymer surface and the conductive material. − Under repetitive stretch and release cycles, the conductive material from the surface of the fibers gets debonded and peeled gradually, and degradation of sensing response occurs. Therefore, manufacturing high-performance yarn-based devices with high strength and large stretchability with a simple, cost-effective, and scalable method remains a great challenge for wearable electronics.…”

Stretchable and Strain-Decoupled Fluorescent Optical Fiber Sensor for Body Temperature and Movement Monitoring

“…Driven by the rapid development of soft electronics − and soft photonics, − emerging opportunities have been reported for wearable functional devices. Soft optical sensors based on the control of light–matter interactions exhibit better characteristics for body-health monitoring than soft electronic sensors that are vulnerable to electromagnetic and conductive medium interference .…”

“…10 Stretchable optical fibers, fabricated from transparent matrixlike elastomers, demonstrate both light-guidance performance and flexibility of application and can provide a wearable platform for optical sensing applications. 11 Incorporation into the transparent elastomer matrix composites of functional fluorescent materials such as dye molecules (e.g., rhodamine B, rhodamine 6G, and perylene), noble metal nanoparticles, quantum dots, and rare-earth metal ions 12 has enabled stretchable fluorescent optical fibers to be used as sensors for the detection of pH, 13 chemical ions, 14,15 oxygen, 16 stress, 6,17 and temperature, 18,19 and as smart wearable sensing devices for body-health monitoring. 20 Stretchable fluorescent optical fiber sensing is based on monitoring the changes of various fluorescence parameters such as emission intensity, lifetime, spectral shift, and effective bandwidth 20 to characterize the analyte.…”