From the synthesis of wearable polymer sensors to their potential for reuse and ultimate fate

Abstract

The objective of this perspective is to review the high-interest field of wearable polymer-based sensors—from synthesis to use and detection mechanisms—with a focus on their transient nature, potential for reuse, and ultimate fate. While many bulk polymers have long been mass-produced, the materials needed to create polymer-based sensors—often with unique properties (e.g., being electronically conductive)—are still highly active areas of research. Polymer-based materials and composites, when investigated as wearable sensors, have a wide range of applications with most falling under the umbrellas of biochemical and environmental sensing (i.e., chemical reactivity-based detection) or physical sensing (e.g., piezoresistive response). Since the long-term viability of these sensors is a function of not just their initial syntheses but also their ability to be durable, recyclable, or otherwise renewable, a discussion of both the technical and societal aspects of the reuse and ultimate fate of these materials will be covered. This discussion will focus on topics such as environmental impact, sterilization, and other methods for ensuring continued biocompatibility, as well as methods for the transformation, reclamation, or re-implementation of the sensor devices—a major issue the polymer community is facing.