Stretchable gold fiber-based wearable textile electrochemical biosensor for lactate monitoring in sweat

• Published in: Talanta (Oxford) 2021-01, Vol.222, p.121484-121484, Article 121484
• Main Authors: Wang, Ren, Zhai, Qingfeng, An, Tiance, Gong, Shu, Cheng, Wenlong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biosensing Techniques; Gold; Gold fiber; Lactate biosensor; Lactic Acid; Smart textile; Stretchable electrodes; Sweat; Textiles; Wearable electrochemical sensor; Wearable Electronic Devices
• ISSN: 0039-9140; 1873-3573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121484

Past several years have witnessed growing interest in developing wearable biosensors for non-invasive monitoring vital signs of chemical/biological markers such as lactate. In this context, textiles can be seen as a promising platform for the integration of wearable chemical sensors due to their inherent breathability, flexibility, softness and comfortableness. Gold is regarded as a preferred active sensing material due to its excellent biocompatibility, chemical inertness and wide electrochemical window. Here, a dry-spinning method was used to fabricate stretchable, strain-insensitive and highly conductive gold fibers. Such gold fibers could be used to fabricate lactate-sensing working electrodes, reference electrode, counter electrodes and further weaved into textiles in a standard three-electrode system with a planar layout. The textile lactate biosensors showed a high sensitivity of 19.13 μA/mM cm2 in phosphate-buffered solution (PBS) and 14.6 μA/mM cm2 in artificial sweat. This sensitivity could be maintained under high tensile strain up to 100% without external structural design. The results presented here indicate the potential application of wearable smart textile towards non-invasive lactate monitoring. [Display omitted] •A highly stretchable, strain-insensitive and highly conductive elastomeric gold fibers were fabricated.•The gold fibers could be used to fabricate electrochemical biosensors and further weaved into textiles.•The textile lactate biosensor showed the high stretchability and excellent sensitivity.•On-body sweat lactate detection and soft robotic glove lactate sensing were demonstrated.