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An electrically conductive polyvinyl alcohol/poly (acrylic acid-co-acrylamide)/polydopamine-decorated carbon nanotubes composite hydrogel with appropriate mechanical properties for human movement monitoring

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Abstract

In recent years, flexible wearable electronic devices have received extensive attention in the fields of human health monitoring, bioelectronic interfaces, and human–computer interaction. Conductive hydrogels have gradually become the best candidate materials for flexible wearable electronic devices, due to their good conductive properties, elastic modulus similar to natural skin tissue, and adjustable mechanical properties. In this study, polyvinyl alcohol/poly (acrylic acid-co-acrylamide)/polydopamine-decorated carbon nanotubes (PVA/P(AA-co-AM)/PDA@CNTs) composite hydrogel was prepared by free radical copolymerization and in situ composite methods. The double-physical cross-linked network composed of PVA and P(AA-co-AM) formed an efficient energy dissipation system. The composite hydrogel exhibits appropriate mechanical properties (tensile strength of 1.21 ± 0.04 MPa, elongation at break of 221.28 ± 2.04%, toughness of 1.22 ± 0.36 MJ m−3). PDA@CNTs formed conductive pathways in the composite hydrogel, which endowed hydrogel with electrical conductivity (3.84 S/m) and high sensitivity (gauge factor of 1.6). The wearable sensor based on composite hydrogel can monitor the joint movement and muscle movement of the human body. PVA/P(AA-co-AM)/PDA@CNTs composite hydrogel has great application prospects in the field of flexible wearable electronic devices for human movement monitoring.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (11802197) and Key R&D Program of Shanxi Province (International Cooperation, 201903D421064).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Nano-Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, People’s Republic of China

    Yue Gong, Yinchun Hu, Yizhu Cheng, Zexin Liu, Yu Gu, Xiangfei Yin, Huixiu Ding, Hui Yang, Min Kang, Yan Wei & Di Huang

  2. Shanxi-Zheda Institute of Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan, 030032, People’s Republic of China

    Yinchun Hu, Yan Wei & Di Huang

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  1. Yue Gong
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  2. Yinchun Hu
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Correspondence to Yinchun Hu.

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Gong, Y., Hu, Y., Cheng, Y. et al. An electrically conductive polyvinyl alcohol/poly (acrylic acid-co-acrylamide)/polydopamine-decorated carbon nanotubes composite hydrogel with appropriate mechanical properties for human movement monitoring. J Mater Sci 57, 12947–12959 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07435-x

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