Urushiol-Induced Hydrogels with Long-Term Durability and Long Service Lifespan in Mechanosensation

Abstract

Hydrogel-based wearable sensors have flourished as encouraging candidates for human mechanosensation due to their controllable conductivity and tailorable mechanical performances. However, it is still a great challenge to fabricate hydrogelbased wearable sensors with long-term durability and long service lifespan, while maintaining good sensing sensitivity and mechanical performances. This work demonstrates the formulation of a novel urushiol-induced hydrogel of exclusive microstructure and long-term durability by facile one-step copolymerization, and the development of hydrogel-based mechanosensors with brilliant durability, long lifespan, and long-term and robust adhesiveness in air and water. The hydrogel-based sensors possess extraordinary self-recovery capability and eminent synchronism between applied strains and output signals, which can contribute to the synergistic effect of the fast mobility of flexible polymer chains assigned by the flexible alkyl chains and the construction of an optimized energy dissipation mechanism endowed with molecular-scale dynamic interactions. Moreover, the obtained hydrogel-based sensors can detect mechanical strains and distinguish human motions with high sensitivity, stable electrical signal responsiveness, and good biocompatibility, and have potential applications as wearable sensors for human motion monitoring.

A Strand Entangled Supramolecular PANI/PAA Hydrogel Enabled Ultra‐Stretchable Strain Sensor

“…The self‐healing is driven by the reversible hydrogen bond between PAA chains and dynamic electrostatic bonds between PANI and PAA chains. [ 48 ] After attaching two parts, the hydrophilic segments in the PAA chains re‐associate to generate new hydrogen bonds. Simultaneously, the dynamic interfacial interactions among the free positive charged nitrogen species (−NH + − and =NH + –), −OH, and −COO − groups occur and reform the entangled network, leading to self‐healing.…”

Conductive polymer based hydrogels and their application in wearable sensors: a review

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] In this regard, health monitoring systems based on wearable sensors (WSs) have attracted tremendous attention during the past decade, attributed to their facile/ conformal interactions with the human body and long-term monitoring capabilities. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] WSs play a critical role in the personalized healthcare sector as an effective transducer to convert the almost imperceptible changes (natural physiological fluctuations) into electrical signals such as impedance, [14][15][16][17] potential and current without affecting the user's motions. [18][19][20][21][22][23] The key to realize the above functions is to develop a soft, biocompatible material that can work conformally on the human body and be compatible with its viscoelastic nature.…”