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Antifreeze and moisturizing high conductivity PEDOT/PVA hydrogels for wearable motion sensor

  • Polymers & biopolymers
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Abstract

Conductive hydrogel has shown significant promise in the field of wearable devices. However, the mediocre antifreezing property and relatively low strain sensitivity limit the application of these gels. Herein, we developed a multifunctional hydrogel sensor based on a polyvinyl alcohol substrate with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) as the conductive filler and a glycerin/water component solvent as the dispersion medium. The resulting optimal sample exhibits attractive combination of high tensile stress (~ 1.0 MPa), large elongation (> 400%), reasonable conductivity (~ 3.5 S m−1), while the glycerin/water solvent enable the hydrogel with a great antifreezing and moisturizing property. Accordingly, it was envisioned that the valid design method for conductive hydrogels with antifreeze, toughness, and moisturizing properties would provide wide utilizations of flexible wearable strain sensor.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51773124, 51403132), Sichuan Science and Technology Program China (Grant Nos. 2016GZ0300, 2018GZ0322), Innovation Team Program of Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (Grant No. 2014TD0002), Cooperation strategic projects of Luzhou governments and Sichuan University (Grant No. 2015CDLZ-G13), The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2012017yjsy184).

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  1. College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Yinjie Peng, Bin Yan, Yueshan Li, Ji Lan, Lingying Shi & Rong Ran

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  1. Yinjie Peng
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  3. Yueshan Li
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Correspondence to Rong Ran.

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Peng, Y., Yan, B., Li, Y. et al. Antifreeze and moisturizing high conductivity PEDOT/PVA hydrogels for wearable motion sensor. J Mater Sci 55, 1280–1291 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-04101-7

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