Humidity-Resistant, Broad-Range Pressure Sensors for Garment-Integrated Health, Motion, and Grip Strength Monitoring in Natural Environments

Wearable electromechanical sensors are essential to improve health monitoring and off-site point-of-care applications. However, their practicality is restricted by narrow ranges of detection, failure to simultaneously sense static and dynamic pressures, and low durability. Here, an all-fabric pressure sensor with high sensitivity in a broad range of pressures, from subtle heart pulses to body posture, exceeding that of previously-reported sensors is introduced. By taking advantage of chemical vapor deposition of p-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) chloride (PEDOT-Cl) on two natural textiles (cotton gauze and cotton balls), multiscale tunable pressure sensitivity with low power demand for data read-out is obtained. To protect the sensor against humidity induced degradations, the sensor is encapsulated with a hydrophobic coating that leads to ultrastability of the sensor performance even after 1 week of exposure to 100% relative humidity and 20 laundry cycles. The sensor reveals excellent performance retention of >99% over 70 000 bending cycles under ambient conditions. The varied utility of this sensor for health monitoring is demonstrated by recording heartbeats, respiration, and joint movements. Furthermore, using this sensor, grip strength is successfully detected by 93.6% accuracy as compared to commercial dynamometer, speaking of its potential as the first fabric-based sensor allowing for personalized real-time grip strength analysis.

Automated summary

An all-fabric pressure sensor with high sensitivity and wide range of pressure detection is introduced. It utilizes p-doped PEDOT-Cl coated on natural textiles to achieve tunable pressure sensitivity and low power demand. The sensor is also encapsulated with a hydrophobic coating for excellent stability and durability.