Roll-to-Roll Gravure Printed Electrochemical Sensors for Wearable and Medical Devices

TLDR

Recent advances in noninvasive biosensors drive demand for high‑throughput, cost‑effective fabrication of flexible sensing components. We aim to develop roll‑to‑roll gravure‑printed electrodes that remain robust across diverse electrochemical sensing tasks. Using inks and electrode morphologies optimized for electrochemical and mechanical stability, we printed uniform redox‑kinetic devices on 150‑m flexible substrate rolls. The printed electrodes enable consistently high‑performing sensors for ions, metabolites, heavy metals, and other small molecules in noninvasive biofluids, including real‑time perspiration monitoring during exercise, marking a key translational step toward large‑scale, low‑cost disposable wearable sensors.

Abstract

As recent developments in noninvasive biosensors spearhead the thrust toward personalized health and fitness monitoring, there is a need for high throughput, cost-effective fabrication of flexible sensing components. Toward this goal, we present roll-to-roll (R2R) gravure printed electrodes that are robust under a range of electrochemical sensing applications. We use inks and electrode morphologies designed for electrochemical and mechanical stability, achieving devices with uniform redox kinetics printed on 150 m flexible substrate rolls. We show that these electrodes can be functionalized into consistently high performing sensors for detecting ions, metabolites, heavy metals, and other small molecules in noninvasively accessed biofluids, including sensors for real-time, in situ perspiration monitoring during exercise. This development of robust and versatile R2R gravure printed electrodes represents a key translational step in enabling large-scale, low-cost fabrication of disposable wearable sensors for personalized health monitoring applications.