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A waterproof and breathable Cotton/rGO/CNT composite for constructing a layer-by-layer structured multifunctional flexible sensor

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Abstract

Developing a cotton fabric sensing layer with good waterproofness and breathability via a low-cost and eco-friendly method is increasingly important for the construction of comfortable and wearable electronic devices. Herein, a waterproof and breathable cotton fabric composite decorated by reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and carbon nanotube (CNT), Cotton/rGO/CNT, is reported by a facile solution infiltration method, and we adopt such Cotton/rGO/CNT composite to develop a layer-by-layer structured multifunctional flexible sensor, enabling the high-sensitivity detection of pressure and temperature stimulus. Particularly, the multifunctional flexible sensor exhibits a high response toward tiny pressure, demonstrating salient superiority in the continuous and reliable monitoring of human physiological information. Concerning temperature sensing, a good linear response for the temperatures ranging from 28 to 40 °C is achieved by the multifunctional flexible sensor and gives rise to be successfully applied to the non-contact real-time monitoring of human respiration signal. Finally, an array consisting of multifunctional flexible sensors further demonstrates its feasibility in perceiving and mapping the pressure and temperature information of contact objects. This work provides a feasible strategy for designing cotton-based sensing layers that can effectively resist liquid water penetration and allow water vapor transmission, and offers reasonable insight for constructing comfort and multifunctional wearable electronics.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 62174068, 61805101, 62005095, 61888102, and 62104080), Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. ZR2019BF013 and ZR2020QF105), and Rizhao City Key Research and Development Program under Grant (No. 2021ZDYF010102).

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  1. Feifei Yin and Yunjian Guo contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Science and Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan, 250022, China

    Feifei Yin, Yunjian Guo, Hao Li, Wenjing Yue, Chunwei Zhang, Yang Li & Song Gao

  2. School of Integrated Circuits and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Guozhen Shen

  3. International School for Optoelectronic Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Science), Jinan, 250353, China

    Duo Chen

  4. Shandong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Jinan, 250022, China

    Wei Geng

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  1. Feifei Yin
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  2. Yunjian Guo
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  3. Hao Li
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  4. Wenjing Yue
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  8. Yang Li
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  10. Guozhen Shen
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Correspondence to Yang Li, Song Gao or Guozhen Shen.

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A waterproof and breathable Cotton/rGO/CNT composite for constructing a layer-by-layer structured multifunctional flexible sensor

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Yin, F., Guo, Y., Li, H. et al. A waterproof and breathable Cotton/rGO/CNT composite for constructing a layer-by-layer structured multifunctional flexible sensor. Nano Res. 15, 9341–9351 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4440-1

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