A rapid stretchable hydrogel strain sensor based on PVA/MXene and graphene with basketball monitoring function

Abstract

Recently, the development of new materials and structural technologies for flexible strain sensors has attracted much attention. It is worth noting that conductive hydrogels have potential applications in the field of flexible strain sensors. In this work, we designed a conductive hydrogel with dynamic physical cross-linking based polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), MXene, and graphene (PMG conductive hydrogel) by using a step-by-step construction strategy. Nanocellulose loaded with MXene and graphene is incorporated into the PVA substrate, giving a PMG conductive hydrogel conductive channel. In addition, the mechanical strength of PMG hydrogel was improved by adding chitosan, and in order to enhance the cold resistance of PMG hydrogel, ferric chloride (FeCl3) inorganic salt was added to it. The experimental results show that PMG conductive hydrogel has excellent mechanical properties, its tensile strength can reach 2.5 MPa, and the breaking tensile rate is 565%. Most importantly, PMG hydrogel strain sensors are compatible with human skin, are suitable for basketball training monitoring, and shows potential application in smart sports.