Silver oxide integrated ionic polymer composite for wearable sensing and water purification

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal advances 2024-11, Vol.20, p.100651, Article 100651
• Main Authors: Khanduri, Priya, Panwar, Varij, Sharma, Pradeep Kumar, Anoop, Gopinathan, Kumar, Sanjeev, Park, Sukho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ionic Polymer Composite; Metal nanoparticles; Water purification; Wearable Sensing
• ISSN: 2666-8211; 2666-8211
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceja.2024.100651

•The flower-shaped silver oxide (Ag2O) attached PVDF/PVP/ionic liquid ionic polymer composites (IPCs) were designed for wearable sensing and water purification.•The Ag2O-IPC attached to the wrist demonstrated remarkably high sensitivity (ΔR/R) values of 50 to the wrist movement.•The Ag2O-based IPC recorded a significant reduction of TDS from sewage water from 3405 ppm to 1035 ppm.•The Ag2O-based IPC elevated the dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in the sewage water from 1.2 mg/l to 6.8 mg/l and removed approximately 87.38 % phosphate from sewage water. Integrating metal nanoparticles (NPs) with ionic polymer blends/composites showed immense interest for their potential in wearable sensors, soft robotic arms, flexible man-machine interfaces of biomedical devices, and water purification applications. However, conventional NPs attached ionic polymer composites exhibit limitations such as low sensitivity (ΔR/R), low total dissolved solids (TDS) reduction, and low phosphate (PO4-P) removal rate. Herein, ionic polymer composites (IPCs) using flower-shaped silver oxide (Ag2O) attached Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/ polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/ionic liquid (IL) were designed and developed for wearable sensing and water purification. The IPCs demonstrated remarkably high ΔR/R values of 50, 10, and 3.5 corresponding to the wrist movement of 50°, finger movement of 180°, and chin movements respectively. The Ag2O-based IPC recorded a significant reduction of TDS from sewage water from 3405 ppm to 1035 ppm, elevated the dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in the sewage water from 1.2 mg/l to 6.8 mg/l, and removed approximately 87.38 % phosphate from sewage water. Due to the uniform distribution of Ag2O within pores of IPC, it demonstrated enhanced performance for wearable and wastewater treatment applications. [Display omitted]