Biohybrid Hydrogels for Multifunctional Wearable Sensors

Recently, hydrogels incorporated with polysacchrides (agarose, sodium alginate, gelatin, cellulose, chitosan, etc.) have made great progress in hydrogel-based bioelectronics, due to their tunable mechanical performance, good biocompatibility. To meet the high demands for wearable electronics, in addition to the necessary stretchability, hydrogels often need to integrate great adhesion to achieve stable fit between human skin and hydrogel devices. Futhermore, it also needs good self-healing properties in case of the damage of external force. Werable electronics requires high conductivity to convert the mechanical stress to electrical signals, and then detecting the human motion. Last but not least, the hydrogels can achieve the function of self-power to satisfy the requirements of continuous electrical supply. In this project, we aim to fabricate a type of hydrogels with self-healing ability, adhesive performance, stretchability and conductivity by using chemical cross linking. Different polysaccharides will be chosen as the starting materials.