Search

Conductive hydrogels are promising flexible conductors for human motion monitoring. However, this kind of wearable strain sensor has often shown weak mechanical properties. To overcome the inherent mechanical weakness and improve the electrical conductivity, CNT-Br/PEDOT:PSS/PAAS triple-network penetrating conductive hydrogels (CBP) are fabricated. The n-butylimidazolium bromide salt-functionalized MWCNTs (CNT-Br) as conductive fillers form a three-dimensional conductive path through the crosslinking agent XR-100, penetrating with the skeleton of crosslinking sodium polyacrylate. The conductive liquid PEDOT:PSS is further evenly dispersed in the penetrating double network to further enhance the electrical conductivity of the hydrogels. CNT-Br without obvious agglomeration significantly improved the thermal stability and mechanical properties of CBP. Moreover, CNT-Br enabled the PEDOT:PSS components to be more evenly dispersed in the PAAS matrix. Due to the good conductive paths inside the hydrogels, the maximum electrical conductivity (CBP10) increases to 10.35 mS cm−1, which is 415% higher than that of pure P1. Our work provides a method to prepare conductive hydrogels with high electrical conductivity and excellent mechanical properties, which can be used for human joint motion detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conducting polymers with inherently good flexibility and conductivity are good candidates for stretchable conductor applications, such as wearable electronics and healthcare devices. In this article, the crosslinked PAA (polyacrylic acid, n-PAA) hydrogels were fabricated via the reaction between hydrophilic groups of polymers in the presence of the water-based silicone crosslinking agent. By using the PEDOT:PSA (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate-co-acrylic acid) as a conducting component, the conductive hydrogels prepared by this method are highly conductive with a value of 2.00 S cm−1, highly stretchable with 800% strain and exceedingly stable in ambient air for a long time; also they possess superior properties to similar crosslinking methods. The resistance change with stretching is almost strain-insensitive up to 50% strain after 1000 fatigue cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]