Hybrid conductive hydrogels for washable human motion energy harvester and self-powered temperature-stress dual sensor

Ionic conductive hydrogels are ideal frameworks to design and construct various flexible electronics owing to their biocompatibility, transmittance, elasticity, and high water content. Here, to enhance the conductivity, hybrid ionic/electronic conductive hydrogel networks, based on a crosslinked chitosan by metal ions (Ag⁺/Cu²⁺) and Ag nanowires, are developed as efficient current collectors in triboelectric nanogenerator for human motion energy harvesting. It is found that the concentration of AgNWs and the type of complexation metal ion play significant roles in the power output of the hydrogel based motion energy harvester. Meanwhile, the durability and washability of the device are investigated. On the other hand, hybrid hydrogels as self-powered sensors for temperature-stress dual sensing are fabricated, where good linear correlations with high sensitivities are demonstrated. These findings shed some lights on the rational design of hydrogel networks and their corresponding devices with the advantage of hybrid conduction.