Multifunctional conductive hydrogel-based flexible wearable sensors

Abstract Flexible sensors have shown great potential in remote health monitoring, body movements track, electronic skin, human-machine interfaces, and soft robotics. Hydrogels possess exceptional stretchability, flexibility and biocompatibility that render them appealing candidates for wearable flexible sensors. Among them, considerable efforts have been devoted to developing conductive hydrogels to achieve multifunctional wearable sensing through using functional groups/additives/nanofillers to modify the hydrogel network in recent years. This review summarizes recent advances of applications of hydrogels in flexible wearable sensors, such as sweat sampling and flexible electrodes, strain/pressure sensors and touch panels, focuses on the multifunctional conductive hydrogels-based flexible wearable sensors with self-healing, self-adhesion, or anti-freezing capabilities. A brief introduction to representative synthesis methods and strategies of conductive hydrogels is also presented. In the end, we also provide a personal perspective on the future development, and address the remaining challenges in the commercialization of conductive hydrogels-based multifunctional flexible wearable sensors.