A Multimodal Self-Healing Flexible Sweat Sensor for Healthcare Monitoring

We report a self-healable, flexible, and multimodal sweat sensor based on laser-induced graphene electrodes for healthcare monitoring application. A transfer printing and laser engraving process has been developed to conduct a high-throughput patterning process of various materials on a self-healable substrate. The prototype device is capable of simultaneous detection of pH, uric acid, and tyrosine, which are important indicators for skin and metabolic disorders. Furthermore, this work has made advancements as compared with the state-of-art works: (1) maintaining sensitivity under large strain, such as under 180-degree folding with a bending radius of ~1 mm, and (2) recovery of conductivity and sensitivity by self-healing after being cut through into two pieces by a razor blade. As such, this sensing system is suitable for wearable health monitoring systems that often encounter accidental damages due to the settings of large deformation and bending in practice.