A non-enzymatic flexible and wearable sensor based on thermal transfer printing technology for continuous glucose detection in sweat

Xinshuo Liang, Shuai Zhang, Shuo Meng, Renjie Tan, Ke Zhang, Jinlian Hu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Non-invasive, flexible wearable sensors are an important method to continuously measure glucose in sweat for diabetes and human health monitoring and management. However, how to create an alkaline environment at any time so that CuO based sensors can be applied to wearable devices to detect sweat glucose while finding a way to efficiently and quickly produce the sensors in small batches have been a challenge. Herein, we report a non-enzymatic thermal transferred flexible and wearable sensor based on CuO/CaTiO3 for continuous glucose detection in sweat. The sensor is manufactured using thermal transfer printing technology, which offers advantages like low cost, ease of operation, and rapid small batch production. CuO is known for its excellent electrocatalytic activity, making it a suitable candidate for glucose oxidation. Meanwhile, CaTiO3 particles provide a large specific surface area, good biocompatibility, and electrical conductivity, which enhance the electron transfer rate during detection and broaden the linear range of glucose detection. Specially designed NaOH/Nafion/PEO blend film make the measurements always in a strong alkali environment without any pretreatment and preparation. The synthesized material with this as-prepared flexible and wearable sensor exhibits superior performance towards glucose monitoring, such as high sensitivity of 487.3 μA mM−1 cm−2 with limit of detection(LOD) 0.75 μM, wide dynamic linear range from 0.01 mM to 2 mM and fast response time of less than 0.1 s. Additionally, the proposed sensor also exhibited excellent biocompatibility, selectivity, reproducibility and flexibility, as well as good stability with about 88 % of its initial activity after 5 weeks’ storage and it has been successfully applied for the detection of glucose concentration in human sweat real samples. This research contributes to the development of flexible and wearable sensors for non-invasive sweat diagnostics, enabling continuous glucose monitoring for various applications in healthcare and wellness. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.
Original languageEnglish
Article number111690
JournalMicrochemical Journal
Volume207
Online published19 Sept 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2024

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Startup Grant of CityU (“Laboratory of Wearable Materials for Healthcare,” Grant no. 9380116), the National Natural Science Foundation of China “Study of high-performance fiber to be achieved by mimicking the hierarchical structure of spider-silk,” Grant no. 52073241; the Collaborative Research Fund with the title of “Fundamental Study towards Real Spider Dragline Silk Performance through Artificial Innovative Approach”, project no. 8730080; “Study of Multi-Responsive Shape Memory Polyurethane Nanocomposites Inspired by Natural Fibers,” Grant no. 51673162; “Developing Spider-Silk-Model Artificial Fibers by A Chemical Synthetic Approach,” Grant no. 15201719), and the Contract Research (“Development of Breathable Fabrics with Nano-Electrospun Membrane,” CityU ref: 9231419).

Research Keywords

  • Metal oxide
  • Non-enzymatic wearable sensing
  • Sweat glucose sensor
  • Thermal transfer

Publisher's Copyright Statement

  • COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: © 2024 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

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