Humidity-sensitive chemoelectric flexible sensors based on metal-air redox reaction for health management

Nat Commun. 2022 Sep 15;13(1):5416. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33133-y.

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown flexible electronics play important roles in health management. The way of power supply is always an essential factor of devices and self-powered ones are very attractive because of the fabrication easiness, usage comfort and aesthetics of the system. In this work, based on the metal-air redox reaction, which is usually used in designing metal-air batteries, we design a self-powered chemoelectric humidity sensor where a silk fibroin (SF) and LiBr gel matrix containing parallel aligned graphene oxide (GO) flakes serve as the electrolyte. The abundant hydrophilic groups in GO/SF and the hygroscopicity of LiBr lead to tight dependence of the output current on the humidity, enabling the sensor high sensitivity (0.09 μA/s/1%), fast response (1.05 s) and quick recovery (0.80 s). As proofs of concept, we design an all-in-one respiratory monitoring-diagnosing-treatment system and a non-contact human-machine interface, demonstrating the applications of the chemoelectric humidity sensor in health management.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Fibroins*
  • Graphite*
  • Humans
  • Humidity
  • Metals
  • Oxidation-Reduction

Substances

  • Metals
  • graphene oxide
  • Graphite
  • Fibroins