Keratin eutectogel as a strain sensor: Towards environmentally friendly technologies

IF 5.8 2区化学 Q1 POLYMER SCIENCE

European Polymer Journal Pub Date : 2025-02-03 DOI:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2025.113791

Rodrigo Nicolás Núñez , Tomás Arnal , Ximena Guerbi , Flavia Michelini , Claudio J. Pérez , Celina Bernal , Alejandro Berra , Guillermo Javier Copello

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Abstract

Flexible strain sensors have gained a lot of interest in the last decade in response to the increasing demand for wearable and flexible electronic devices for medical applications and soft robotics. In this work, a simple economic strategy is proposed to fabricate a protein-based strain sensor from bovine horns. The keratinous material undergoes a mild alkaline hydrolysis at low temperatures in the presence of a deep eutectic solvent (DES) to obtain a keratin eutectogel. These novel materials showed great stretchability (∼90 %) and excellent sensing capabilities (gauge factor = 3.7), while being biocompatible and biodegradable. Furthermore, the materials were used for more than 600 operating cycles without any significant signal loss and with excellent linearity of the electrical response. Due to the ionic nature of the DES, the keratin eutectogel showed high ionic conductivity and anti-drying properties, allowing their use for extended periods of time without a significant loss of signal stability. As a result, the proposed strain sensor was successfully used for the sensing of human motions. This work can lead to a paradigm shift in the construction of flexible sensing devices by envisioning environmentally friendly materials with excellent properties to replace synthetic ones, thereby helping to reduce the negative impact of technological developments on nature.

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来源期刊

European Polymer Journal 化学-高分子科学

CiteScore

9.90

自引率

10.00%

发文量

691

审稿时长

23 days

期刊介绍： European Polymer Journal is dedicated to publishing work on fundamental and applied polymer chemistry and macromolecular materials. The journal covers all aspects of polymer synthesis, including polymerization mechanisms and chemical functional transformations, with a focus on novel polymers and the relationships between molecular structure and polymer properties. In addition, we welcome submissions on bio-based or renewable polymers, stimuli-responsive systems and polymer bio-hybrids. European Polymer Journal also publishes research on the biomedical application of polymers, including drug delivery and regenerative medicine. The main scope is covered but not limited to the following core research areas: Polymer synthesis and functionalization • Novel synthetic routes for polymerization, functional modification, controlled/living polymerization and precision polymers. Stimuli-responsive polymers • Including shape memory and self-healing polymers. Supramolecular polymers and self-assembly • Molecular recognition and higher order polymer structures. Renewable and sustainable polymers • Bio-based, biodegradable and anti-microbial polymers and polymeric bio-nanocomposites. Polymers at interfaces and surfaces • Chemistry and engineering of surfaces with biological relevance, including patterning, antifouling polymers and polymers for membrane applications. Biomedical applications and nanomedicine • Polymers for regenerative medicine, drug delivery molecular release and gene therapy The scope of European Polymer Journal no longer includes Polymer Physics.