Research and application progress of flexible sweat sensors
Sweat is the liquid secreted by the sweat glands of the human body and is distributed in all parts of the body,while sweat contains a wealth of information about human health.In addition to water,sweat contains electrolytes,metabolites,heavy metals,hormones,proteins,etc.The levels of electrolytes and other components in sweat can change significantly depending on the physical condition and environmental conditions,so the assessment of human health status can be realized by monitoring specific components in sweat.Compared with other biological fluids,sweat is easy to be collected and shows unique advantages in the field of wearable sensors,especially in health tracking and monitoring during human movement.In recent years,the rapid development of flexible wearable sensors and electronic device technologies has greatly facilitated the research on wearable sweat sensors.Currently,portable devices have been developed to capture the energy in sweat and store it.As the research on flexible sweat sensors continues to deepen,corresponding progress has been made in the design of wearable flexible sweat sensors,which are expected to play a greater role in the fields of healthcare,human movement monitoring,and aerospace.Flexible wearable electronic devices need to match the bending and stretching of human skin without affecting the wearer's daily activities.Since most of the substrates of traditional wearable sensors are rigid and cannot meet the wearable use of people,the research of flexible substrate materials has become the focus of the field of flexible sensors at this stage.Starting from the types of substrate materials for flexible sweat sensors,this paper described in detail the substrate materials commonly used for sweat sensors in recent years and briefly outlined the applications of flexible sweat sensors in monitoring.Finally,it summarized the current limitations and prospects for future development.Flexible wearable sensors are now becoming the next generation of smart wearable tools,capable of capturing information about the human body and its surroundings in an intelligent,easy and real-time manner.However,there are still some problems.Firstly,in terms of sweat collection and utilization,due to environmental and physiological differences,there are variations in sweat levels in individuals and body parts.The chemical composition of sweat can vary depending on where it is collected and how it is extracted.Age and gender differences also affect the composition of sweat.Secondly,in most cases,polymer films are used as substrates and precious metals as conductive electrodes for sensors;therefore,these sensors have such main drawbacks as poor breathability,wearing comfort and high price.Finally,in addition to the comfort of wearing the sweat sensor and the sensitivity of sweat detection,it is also necessary to consider whether human movement and environmental changes during the wearing process will affect the detection performance and sensitivity.To address the above issues,a standardized and personalized sweat composition database with dynamic fluctuation range can be established in the future,which can lay the foundation for further development and application of flexible sensors.It has become a trend to develop natural and low-cost materials such as textile substrate materials and paper substrate materials for the preparation of wearable textile sweat sensors,which can satisfy the comfort and breathability of their wearing.With the researchers'in-depth study of preparation methods and practical applications,flexible wearable sensors will be more widely used,and wearable devices are expected to play an important role in the future monitoring of daily health and physical activities,as well as in the prevention,diagnosis,treatment and healing of diseases.
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