Bio-Inspired Ion-Conducting Foam Elastomer for Human Motion Monitoring

Due to their excellent ionic conductivity, stretchability, and self-healing property, elastic ionic conductors have shown great promise for the development of flexible electronics. However, for the ionic pressure sensors, how to enhance their sensitivity and broaden their detectable range is still a challenge. Here, we develop a simple one-step method to prepare foamy structure ionic conductors, that is, ionic conductive foams (ICFs), for high-performance ionic sensing applications. The typical porous structures were constructed through a simple gas foaming technique. The as-prepared ICFs combine the advantages of light-weight, stretchable, and self-healing properties. Interestingly, attributed to the porous structure feature, the ICF-based pressure sensor exhibited a high sensitivity (5.23 kPa⁻¹), a broad detection range (from 0.1 to 100 kPa), excellent stability, and long-time durability. Moreover, adaptive monitoring of large and tiny pressure changes is also brought out to detect various human motions. This universal classification of ionic conductor is expected to be a promising candidate for flexible device applications in different conditions.