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Versatile sensing devices for self-driven designated therapy based on robust breathable composite films

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Abstract

Flexible wearable electronics were developed for applications such as electronic skins, human-machine interactions, healthcare monitoring, and anti-infection therapy. But conventional materials showed impermeability, single sensing ability, and no designated therapy, which hindered their applications. Thus it was still a great challenge to develop electronic devices with multifunctional sensing properties and self-driven anti-infection therapy. Herein, flexible and breathable on-skin electronic devices for multifunctional fabric based sensing and self-driven designated anti-infection therapy were prepared successfully with cellulose nanocrystals/iron(III) ion/polyvinyl alcohol (CNC/Fe3+/PVA) composite. The resultant composite films possessed robust mechanical performances, outstanding conductivity, and distinguished breathability (3.03 kg/(m2·d)), which benefited from the multiple interactions of weak hydrogen bonds and Fe3+ chelation and synergistic effects among CNC, polyaniline (PANI), and PVA. Surprisingly, the film could be assembled as a multifunctional sensor to actively monitor real-time physical and infection related signals such as temperature, moisture, pH, NH3, and human movements even at sweat states. More importantly, this multifunctional device could act as a self-driven therapist to eliminate bacterial by the release of Fe3+, which was driven by the damage of metal coordination Fe-O bonds due to the high temperature caused by infection at wound sites. Thus, the composite films had potential versatile applications in electronic skins, smart wound dressings, human-machine interactions, and self-driven anti-infection therapy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Key Foundation of China (No. LZ20E030003), the Fundamental Research Funds of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (No. 2019Q001), and the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (No. 2018QNRC001).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Zhaofeng Ouyang, Houyong Yu, Dewen Xu, Chuang Wang & Dongping Tang

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Songbo Cui, Houyong Yu & Kam Chiu Tam

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  1. Zhaofeng Ouyang
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  2. Songbo Cui
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Correspondence to Houyong Yu.

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Ouyang, Z., Cui, S., Yu, H. et al. Versatile sensing devices for self-driven designated therapy based on robust breathable composite films. Nano Res. 15, 1027–1038 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3591-9

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