Reduced graphene oxide/polyaniline hydrogel-based piezo pressure sensor for biomedical applications

Abstract

Flexible piezo-actuated pressure sensors play a crucial role in enhancing healthcare diagnostics, particularly for monitoring muscle activity and detecting abnormalities. This work reports on reduced graphene oxide and polyaniline composite (rGO-PANI) hydrogel-based pressure sensor offering high sensitivity, flexibility, and durability. A simple solvent casting method along with hydrothermal process was employed to fabricate a unique combination of rGO-PANI with reliable polymers of PVA and PVP that achieves piezoelectric and piezoresistive nature of a soft, highly stable, stretchable piezo-sensitive pressure sensor. SEM, XRD, FTIR, RAMAN, TGA–DSC patterns of rGO-PANI hydrogel pressure sensor help to investigate the material characteristics of piezo conductive nature of reduced graphene oxide and polyaniline. Sensor’s performance is experimentally calculated and observed with promising sensitivity value, pressure sensing range with good linearity response that proves piezo property of the pressure sensor. This hybrid-composite conductive hydrogel pressure sensor can be easily placed on skin detecting a range of voluntary and involuntary muscle movements and pressures of a human body that facilitates the advancement of sustainable wearables.