Extremely Fast Self-Healable Bio-Based Supramolecular Polymer for Wearable Real-Time Sweat-Monitoring Sensor

Sensors with autonomous self-healing properties offer
enhanced
durability, reliability, and stability. Although numerous self-healing
polymers have been attempted, achieving sensors with fast and reversible
recovery under ambient conditions with high mechanical toughness remains
challenging. Here, a highly sensitive wearable sensor made of a robust
bio-based supramolecular polymer that is capable of self-healing via
hydrogen bonding is presented. The integration of carbon fiber thread
into a self-healing polymer matrix provides a new toolset that can
easily be knitted into textile items to fabricate wearable sensors
that show impressive self-healing efficiency (>97.0%) after 30
s at
room temperature for K+/Na+ sensing. The wearable
sweat-sensor systemcoupled with a wireless electronic circuit
board capable of transferring data to a smart phonesuccessfully
monitors electrolyte ions in human perspiration noninvasively in real
time, even in the healed state during indoor exercise. Our smart sensors
represent an important advance toward futuristic personalized healthcare
applications.