Solvent Treatment of Wet-Spun PEDOT: PSS Fibers for Fiber-Based Wearable pH Sensing

Autor: Daniel O. Reid, Rachel E. Smith, Jose Garcia-Torres, John F. Watts, Carol Crean
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Sensors, Vol 19, Iss 19, p 4213 (2019)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1424-8220
DOI: 10.3390/s19194213
Popis: There is a growing desire for wearable sensors in health applications. Fibers are inherently flexible and as such can be used as the electrodes of flexible sensors. Fiber-based electrodes are an ideal format to allow incorporation into fabrics and clothing and for use in wearable devices. Electrically conducting fibers were produced from a dispersion of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS). Fibers were wet spun from two PEDOT: PSS sources, in three fiber diameters. The effect of three different chemical treatments on the fibers were investigated and compared. Short 5 min treatment times with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on 20 μm fibers produced from Clevios PH1000 were found to produce the best overall treatment. Up to a six-fold increase in electrical conductivity was achieved, reaching 800 S cm−1, with no loss of mechanical strength (150 MPa). With a pH-sensitive polyaniline coating, these fibers displayed a Nernstian response across a pH range of 3.0 to 7.0, which covers the physiologically critical pH range for skin. These results provide opportunities for future wearable, fiber-based sensors including real-time, on-body pH sensing to monitor skin disease.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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