Advanced Fiber Materials, Volume. 6, Issue 6, 00464(2024)

Natural Human Skin-Inspired Wearable and Breathable Nanofiber-based Sensors with Excellent Thermal Management Functionality

Peng Wang1, Xiaodan Li2, Guifen Sun3, Guoqing Wang4, Qing Han1, Chuizhou Meng3、*, Zhonghe Wei5、**, and Yang Li4,6、***
Author Affiliations
  • 1School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China
  • 2School of Information and Control Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
  • 3State Key Laboratory for Reliability and Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Intelligent Rehabilitation Device and Detection Technology, Hebei Key Laboratory of Smart Sensing and Human-Robot Interaction, School of Mechanical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China
  • 4Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Network-Based Intelligent Computing, School of Information Science and Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China
  • 5Network Information Center, Department of Computer Science, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China
  • 6School of Integrated Circuits, Shandong University, Jinan 250101, China
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    Wearable sensors have been rapidly developed for application in various human monitoring systems. However, the wearing comfort and thermal properties of these devices have been largely ignored, and these characteristics urgently need to be studied. Herein, we develop a wearable and breathable nanofiber-based sensor with excellent thermal management functionality based on passive heat preservation and active Joule heating effects. The multifunctional device consists of a micropatterned carbon nanotube (CNT)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanofiber electrode, a microporous ionic aerogel electrolyte and a microstructured Ag/TPU nanofiber electrode. Due to the presence of a supercapacitive sensing mechanism and the application of microstructuration, the sensor shows excellent sensing performance, with a sensitivity of 24.62 kPa-1. Moreover, due to the overall porous structure and hydrophobicity of TPU, the sensor shows good breathability (62 mm/s) and water repellency, with a water contact angle of 151.2°. In addition, effective passive heat preservation is achieved by combining CNTs with high solar absorption rates (85%) as the top layer facing the outside, aerogel with a low thermal conductivity (0.063 W m-1 k-1) as the middle layer for thermal insulation, and Ag with a high infrared reflectance rate as the bottom layer facing the skin. During warming, this material yields a higher temperature than cotton. Furthermore, the active Joule heating effect is realized by applying current through the bottom resistive electrode, which can quickly increase the temperature to supply controlled warming on demand. The proposed wearable and breathable sensor with tunable thermal properties is promising for monitoring and heat therapy applications in cold environments. We reported a wearable and breathable nanofiber-based sensor with excellent thermal management functionality based on passive heat preservation and active Joule heating effects.

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    Peng Wang, Xiaodan Li, Guifen Sun, Guoqing Wang, Qing Han, Chuizhou Meng, Zhonghe Wei, Yang Li. Natural Human Skin-Inspired Wearable and Breathable Nanofiber-based Sensors with Excellent Thermal Management Functionality[J]. Advanced Fiber Materials, 2024, 6(6): 00464

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    Paper Information

    Category: Research Articles

    Received: Apr. 18, 2024

    Accepted: Jun. 24, 2024

    Published Online: Jan. 23, 2025

    The Author Email: Chuizhou Meng (2018108@hebut.edu.cn), Zhonghe Wei (weizhonghe08@126.com), Yang Li (yang.li@sdu.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.1007/s42765-024-00464-y

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