Highly Stretchable and Wearable Graphene Strain Sensors with Controllable Sensitivity for Human Motion Monitoring

TLDR

Graphene strain sensors, prized for their electrical and mechanical properties, are widely studied for applications ranging from virtual reality to healthcare, yet their stretchability and sensitivity remain limited, underscoring the need for practical fabrication methods. The study aims to fabricate and characterize novel graphene strain sensors built on stretchable yarns. The sensors are produced via a simple, low‑cost, scalable layer‑by‑layer assembly that yields highly stretchable, sensitive, and wearable devices capable of monitoring diverse human motions such as joint movement, phonation, swallowing, and breathing. The resulting sensors achieve up to 150 % stretchability, are versatile, and can detect both large‑ and small‑scale human motions.

Abstract

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.