Search for: All records

A leaf-attachable multimodal plant wearable sensor was developed for monitoring biotic and abiotic stresses in real time. 

Abstract Biosensors are analytical tools for monitoring various parameters related to living organisms, such as humans and plants. Liquid metals (LMs) have emerged as a promising new material for biosensing applications in recent years. LMs have attractive physical and chemical properties such as deformability, high thermal and electrical conductivity, low volatility, and low viscosity. LM‐based biosensors represent a new strategy in biosensing particularly for wearable and real‐time sensing. While early demonstrations of LM biosensors focus on monitoring physical parameters such as strain, motion, and temperature, recent examples show LM can be an excellent sensing material for biochemical and biomolecular detection as well. In this review, the recent progress of LM‐based biosensors for personalized healthcare and disease monitoring via both physical and biochemical signaling is survey. It is started with a brief introduction of the fundamentals of biosensors and LMs, followed by a discussion of different mechanisms by which LM can transduce biological or physiological signals. Next, it is reviewed example LM‐based biosensors that have been used in real biological systems, ranging from real‐time on‐skin physiological monitoring to target‐specific biochemical detection. Finally, the challenges and future directions of LM‐integrated biosensor platforms is discussed. 

Abstract Recent advances in nanolithography, miniaturization, and material science, along with developments in wearable electronics, are pushing the frontiers of sensor technology into the large‐scale fabrication of highly sensitive, flexible, stretchable, and multimodal detection systems. Various strategies, including surface engineering, have been developed to control the electrical and mechanical characteristics of sensors. In particular, surface wrinkling provides an effective alternative for improving both the sensing performance and mechanical deformability of flexible and stretchable sensors by releasing interfacial stress, preventing electrical failure, and enlarging surface areas. In this study, recent developments in the fabrication strategies of wrinkling structures for sensor applications are discussed. The fundamental mechanics, geometry control strategies, and various fabricating methods for wrinkling patterns are summarized. Furthermore, the current state of wrinkling approaches and their impacts on the development of various types of sensors, including strain, pressure, temperature, chemical, photodetectors, and multimodal sensors, are reviewed. Finally, existing wrinkling approaches, designs, and sensing strategies are extrapolated into future applications.