Stretchable gold fiber-based wearable electrochemical sensor toward pH monitoring

Ren Wang, Qingfeng Zhai, Yunmeng Zhao, Tiance An, Shu Gong, Zhirui Guo, Qian Qian Shi, Zijun Yong, Wenlong Cheng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

63 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sweat pH is a key health indicator related to metabolism and homeostasis level through hydrogen ion concentration in biological bio-fluid. Therefore, increasing research efforts have been directed to develop wearable pH sensors towards continuous non-invasive monitoring of sweat pH values in the out-of-hospital environments. Herein, we report a stretchable gold fiber-based electrochemical pH sensor based on our recently developed elastomer-bonded gold nanowire coating technology. The densely packed gold film offers superior strain-insensitive conductivity, high stretchability and large electrochemical active surface area (EASA). By electrodepositing polyamine (PANI) and Ag/AgCl onto the gold fibers, we could selectively detect the pH based on open circuit potentials in an ion-selective electrode design. The obtained fiber-based pH sensors feature a great sensitivity (60.6 mV per pH), high selectivity against cationic interference and high stretchability (up to 100% strain). One of the attributes for the fiber-based sensors is that they can be weaved into textiles, holding great potential for integration into everyday clothing for “unfeelable” personal health monitoring.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3655-3660
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry B
Volume8
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Apr 2020

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