Degradable MXene-Doped Polylactic Acid Textiles for Wearable Biomonitoring

Degradable wearable electronics offer a promising route to construct sustainable cities and reduced carbon society. However, the difficult functionalization and the poor stability of degradable sensitive materials dramatically restrict their application in personalized healthcare assessment. Herein, we developed a scalable, low-cost, and porosity degradable MXene-polylactic acid textile (DMPT) for on-body biomonitoring via electrospinning. A combination of polydimethylsiloxane templating and MXene flake impregnation methods endows the fabricated DMPT with a sensitivity of 5.37/kPa, a fast response time of 98 ms, and a good mechanical stability (over 6000 cycles). An efficient degradation of as-electrospun DMPTs was observed in 1 wt % sodium carbonate solution. It is found that the incorporation of MXene nanosheets boosts the hydrophilicity and degradation efficiency of active polylactic acid nanofibrous films in comparison with the pristine counterpart. Furthermore, the as-received DMPT demonstrates great capability in monitoring physiological activities of wrist pulse, knuckle bending, swallowing, and vocalization. This work opens up a new paradigm for developing and optimizing high-performance degradable on-body electronics.

Automated summary

This study developed a degradable MXene-polylactic acid textile with good sensitivity, response time, and mechanical stability. The material exhibited efficient degradation in sodium carbonate solution and demonstrated the capability to monitor various physiological activities.