Recent advances in flexible sensors: From sensing materials to detection modes

Flexible sensors have recently garnered extensive public attention owing to their flexibility, wearability, and tunable mechanical properties, enabling real-time, non-invasive detection of various stimulations. Sensing materials are crucial for flexible sensors. To better enhance the performance, flexible sensors need to be integrated with multiple functional sensing materials to fulfill different detection demands. Herein, this paper reviews the latest advancements in sensing material and detection modes for flexible sensor applications. This review begins with an introduction to the development of different types of sensing materials. Then, it comprehensively summarizes different detection modes of flexible sensors. Furthermore, flexible sensors for various applications based on these advanced sensing materials and detection modes are concluded as well. The challenges of flexible sensors in practical application and promising solutions are finally presented. By summarizing recent advances in flexible sensing technology, this review intends to emphasize the potential of flexible sensors and stimulate innovation in this field.