Eco-friendly Strategies for the Material and Fabrication of Wearable Sensors

Wearable sensors are attracting great attentions due to their potential applications in human health monitoring and caring systems. The wide utilization of wearable electronics may cause great burden to the environment, due to the vast contaminants generated in their fabrication and after their usage. Consequently, great efforts are devoted to the eco-friendly strategies for the material and fabrication in wearable sensors. Herein, recent advantages in developing wearable sensors with eco-friendly materials and green manufacturing approaches are reviewed. The functional materials with accessibility, recoverability and degradability have participated in the sensors as substrates, sensing elements and conductors. The fabrication strategies, from facile manual schemes to low-emission automated techniques are also introduced with their merits and demerits. Finally, the existing challenges and future opportunities in this field are summarized.

Automated summary

This review highlights the recent advantages in developing wearable sensors with eco-friendly materials and green manufacturing approaches. It focuses on functional materials used as substrates, sensing elements, and conductors in sensors, as well as the fabrication strategies ranging from manual schemes to low-emission automated techniques.