High-Performance Wearable Strain Sensor Based on MXene@Cotton Fabric with Network Structure

Flexible and comfortable wearable electronics are as a second skin for humans as they can collect the physiology of humans and show great application in health and fitness monitoring. MXene Ti3C2Tx have been used in flexible electronic devices for their unique properties such as high conductivity, excellent mechanical performance, flexibility, and good hydrophilicity, but less research has focused on MXene-based cotton fabric strain sensors. In this work, a high-performance wearable strain sensor composed of two-dimensional (2D) MXene d-Ti3C2Tx nanomaterials and cotton fabric is reported. Cotton fabrics were selected as substrate as they are comfortable textiles. As the active material in the sensor, MXene d-Ti3C2Tx exhibited an excellent conductivity and hydrophilicity and adhered well to the fabric fibers by electrostatic adsorption. The gauge factor of the MXene@cotton fabric strain sensor reached up to 4.11 within the strain range of 15%. Meanwhile, the sensor possessed high durability (>500 cycles) and a low strain detection limit of 0.3%. Finally, the encapsulated strain sensor was used to detect subtle or large body movements and exhibited a rapid response. This study shows that the MXene@cotton fabric strain sensor reported here have great potential for use in flexible, comfortable, and wearable devices for health monitoring and motion detection.