Collagen fiber-reinforced, tough and adaptive conductive organohydrogel e-skin for multimodal sensing applications

Abstract

Conductive hydrogels (CHs) with high sensitivity and multifunctional property are considered as excellent materials for wearable devices and flexible electronics. Surface synapses and internal multilayered structures are key factors for highly sensitive pressure sensors. Nevertheless, current CHs lack environmental adaptability, multifunctional perception, and instrument portability, which seriously hinders their application as sensors. Here, waste collagen fibers (buffing dust of leather), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and gelatin (Gel) were used as the basic framework of the hydrogel, loaded with a conductive material (silver nanoparticles (BD-CQDs@AgNPs)) and an anti-freezing moisturizer (glycerol (Gly)), resulting in a multifunctional conductive organohydrogel (BPGC-Gly). As a temperature and humidity sensor, it demonstrated an excellent temperature response range (−20–60 °C) and was capable of rapid response (2.4 s) and recovery (1.6 s) to human breathing. As a strain/pressure sensor, it allowed real-time monitoring of human movement and had a high low-pressure sensitivity (S = 4.26 kPa⁻¹, 0–12.5 kPa). Interestingly, BPGC-Gly could also be used as a portable bioelectrode or the acquisition, monitoring and analysis of EMG/ECG signals. In this work, BPGC-Gly was assembled with wireless transmission to achieve multimodal heath detection, which opens new avenues for multi-responsive CHs, comprehensive human health monitoring and next-generation wearable electronic skin (e-skin).