Emerging trends in conductive PVA hydrogels for wearable personalised health monitoring

Wearable personalised health monitoring requires advanced materials that combine biocompatibility, mechanical compliance, and stable signal transduction under dynamic physiological conditions. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels have emerged as a versatile materials platform due to their high-water content, tissue-like softness, and tunable chemical structure. Recent advances have enabled the transformation of PVA hydrogels into multifunctional conductive systems by incorporating nanofillers, conducting polymers, and ionic species, while maintaining structural integrity and hydration stability. This review critically examines current strategies for enhancing conductivity in PVA hydrogels, including network design, synergistic charge transport mechanisms, and scalable fabrication techniques. Their integration into wearable platforms is discussed across key applications, including strain and pressure sensing, electrophysiological monitoring (ECG, EMG, EEG), energy harvesting, and controlled drug delivery. Fundamental challenges, such as dehydration, electromechanical trade-offs, and scalability, are analysed alongside emerging solutions, including self-healing networks, antifreeze approaches, and sustainable composites. Importantly, this review highlights the need to couple materials innovation with standardised evaluation protocols and regulatory frameworks to ensure reproducibility, benchmarking, and clinical translation of PVA-based wearable bioelectronic systems. © 2026 Published by Elsevier Ltd.