Highly stretchable and wearable graphene strain sensors with controllable sensitivity for human motion monitoring.
Because of their outstanding electrical and mechanical properties, graphene strain sensors have attracted extensive attention for electronic applications in virtual reality, robotics, medical diagnostics, and healthcare. Although several strain sensors based on graphene have been reported, the stretchability and sensitivity of these sensors remain limited, and also there is a pressing need to develop a practical fabrication process. This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of new types of graphene strain sensors based on stretchable yarns. Highly stretchable, sensitive, and wearable sensors are realized by a layer-by-layer assembly method that is simple, low-cost, scalable, and solution-processable. Because of the yarn structures, these sensors exhibit high stretchability (up to 150%) and versatility, and can detect both large- and small-scale human motions. For this study, wearable electronics are fabricated with implanted sensors that can monitor diverse human motions, including joint movement, phonation, swallowing, and breathing.
†Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21+ Graduate Program), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
Jung Jin
JJ
Park
‡Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 421 Washington Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
Woo Jin
WJ
Hyun
†Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21+ Graduate Program), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
Sung Cik
SC
Mun
§Department of Mechanical Engineering, Myongji University, 116 Myongji-ro, Cheoin-gu, Youngin, Gyeonggi-do 449-728, Republic of Korea.
Yong Tae
YT
Park
†Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21+ Graduate Program), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
O Ok
OO
Park
D056044:Actigraphy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003020:Clothing; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005246:Feedback; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008365:Manometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055617:Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011312:Pressure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014160:Transducers, Pressure
D006108:Graphite
graphene; human motion monitoring; layer-by-layer assembly; strain sensor; stretchable electronics