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This article presents a smart bandage with wireless strain and temperature sensors and a batteryless near-field communication (NFC) tag. Both sensors are based on conductive poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) polymer. The highly sensitive strain sensor consists of a microfluidic channel filled with PEDOT:PSS in Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The strain sensor shows 3 order (~1250) increase in the resistance for 10% strain and considerably high gauge factor (GF) of ~12 500. The sensor was tested for ~30% strain, which is more than typical stretching of human skin or body parts such as chest expansion during respiration. The strain sensor was also tested for different bending and the electrical resolution was ~150% per degree of free bending and ~12k% per percentage of stretching. The resistive temperature sensor, fabricated on a Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) substrate, showed a ~60% decrease in resistance when the temperature changed from 25 °C to 85 °C and a sensitivity of ~1% per °C. As a proof of concept, the sensors and NFC tag were integrated on wound dressing to obtain wearable systems with smart bandage form factor. The sensors can be operated and read from distance of 25 mm with a user-friendly smartphone application developed for powering the system as well as real-time acquisition of sensors data. Finally, we demonstrate the potential use of smart bandage in healthcare applications such as assessment of wound status or respiratory diseases, such as asthma and COVID-19, where monitoring via wearable strain (e.g., respiratory volume) and temperature sensors is critical.

This paper presents a smart sensor patch with flexible strain sensor and a printed temperature sensor integrated with a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag to detect strain or temperature in a semi-quantitative way. The strain sensor is fabricated using conductive polymer poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) in a polymer Polydimethylsiloxane microchannel. The temperature sensor is fabricated by printing silver electrodes and PEDOT:PSS on a flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) substrate. A customdeveloped battery-less NFC tag with an LED indicator is used to visually detect the strain or temperature by modulating the LED light intensity. The LED shows maximum brightness for relaxed or no strain condition, and also in the case of maximum temperature. In contrast, the LED is virtually off for the maximum strain condition and for room temperature. Both these could be related to food spoilage. Swollen food packages can be detected with the strain sensor, serving as beacons of microbial contamination. Temperature deviations can result in the growth or survival of food-spoilage bacteria. Based on this, the potential application of the sensor system for smart food packaging is presented.

A resistive touchpad was developed employing paper, pencil graphite, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). A pair of flexible substrates with one side coated with conducting graphite and the other with insulating polymer, were assembled with the help of an intercalated polymer spacer having holes which, allowed the inner graphitic layers of the paper surfaces to come in contact with each other upon touching or pressing. An external electrical circuit was designed to detect the variations in the output electrical resistances. The resistive pad was further modified to develop a point-of-care-testing (POCT) device to detect the hand tremors associated with the neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. The proof-of-concept POCT pad showed variations in the electrical resistance due to the variation in contact area at the inner conductive layers of the paper surface when pressed with a pair of human fingers experiencing tremors. Simplified circuit-models have been discussed to explain the operating principles of the resistive pad and the POCT device. The response from the detection unit helped in evaluating the real time hand tremor levels of patients. The POCT prototype was able to detect the early to chronic stages and severity of tremor and thus is capable of detecting diverse neurological disorders.

In this work we present a polymer-based flexible strain sensor integrated with an NFC tag to detect strain by means of a visual LED indicator. The sensor was fabricated using conductive polymer poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) as an active material inside a flexible and transparent polymer Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel. The strain sensor changes its resistance at different bending conditions, showing up to three order increase in resistance for $\sim 100$ bending. A custom-developed passive NFC tag with an LED connected in series to the strain sensor is powered from an NFC reader to detect strain in a semi-quantitative way. The light intensity of the LED indicator is modulated according to the strain level, showing maximum brightness $(\sim 67$ lux) for relaxed or no strain condition, and being almost OFF $(\sim 8$ lux) for the maximum strain condition. The potential application of the NFC-based strain sensor system in food package for spoilage detection is also presented.

This paper presents a polymer strain sensor integrated with\ud an NFC tag to detect strain semi-quantitatively. The strain\ud sensor is fabricated using flexible and transparent polymer\ud Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel having\ud conductive polymer poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)\ud polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) as an active material.\ud The sensor was tested with different bending conditions\ud and it was found that the resistance increases with higher\ud bending. A maximum of 3 order change in resistance was\ud observed for ~100 bending. The sensor was finally tested\ud using a custom-developed passive NFC tag having an LED\ud connected in series with the strain sensor and powered from\ud the reader via the NFC antenna in the tag.

This paper presents poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate polymer microchannel (diameter ≈175 µm) based stretchable strain sensor developed inside polydimethylsiloxane substrate. The microchannel diameter changes when subjected to various strains, leading to change in the resistance of strain sensor. The sensor exhibits about three order (ΔR /R 0 ≈ 1200) increase in the resistance (R ) for 10% applied strain (ΔL /L , L = length of the sensor). This leads to a gauge factor (GF Δ (ΔR /R 0)/(ΔL /L ) of ≈12 000, which is about ≈400 times higher than most of the reported polymer‐based strain sensors. The sensor is evaluated up to a maximum strain of 30%, which is the standard strain limit associated with human body parts such as fingers and wrists. The sensor exhibits a considerably good average degree of hysteresis (

Temperature sensing is an important parameter needed to be measured by the eSkin during the physical interaction of robots with real-world objects. Yet, most of the work on sensors in eSkin has focused on pressure sensing. Here we present a skin conformable printed temperature sensor with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styr-enesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-graphene oxide (GO) as a temperature sensitive layer and silver (Ag) as contact electrodes. The demonstration of PEDOT:PSS/GO as a highly temperature sensitive layer is the distinct feature of the work. The response of presented sensor observed over ~25 °C (room temperature (RT)) to 100°C, by measuring the variation in resistance across the GO/PEDOT:PSS layer showed ~80% decrease in resistance. The sensitivity of the sensor was found to be 1.09% per °C. The sensor’s response was also observed under static and dynamic bending (for 1000 cycles) conditions. The stable and repeatable response of sensor, in both cases, signifies strong adhesion of the layers with negligible delamination or debonding. In comparison to the commercial thermistor, the printed GO/PEDOT:PSS sensor is faster (~73% superior) with response and recovery times of 18 s and 32 s respectively. Finally, the sensor was attached to a robotic hand to allow the robot to act by using temperature feedback.

A combined experimental and computational study is presented to identify the salient features of the adsorption of water molecules from a humid gas on the surface of a film of cadmium sulfide nanoparticles (CdSNPs). It is well known that, apart from showing exquisite optical and electrical properties, CdSNPs are also capable of adsorbing humidity from the gas or vapors. In the present study, we explore the variation in the electrical conductivity of a film of CdSNPs with the variation in the flowrate of a humid gas, which can lead to the development of a humidity or a flowrate sensor. The computational study shows that the increase in the concentration of adsorbed molecules with the enhancement in the flowrate of the humid gas can lead to a variation in the electrical conductance of the CdSNP film. The adsorption of water molecules on the sensor is correlated with the band bending of the CdSNP film owing to the ionization of the adsorbed molecules on the sensor surface. The electrical conductance of the sensor is found to vary in the range of 55–95% when the flowrate of the humid gas is varied from ∼200 to 600 L/min, at a relative humidity of ∼97%. A logarithmic dependence of the flowrate of the humid gas with the concentration of the water molecules adsorbed on the film surface is found to explain the experimental observations.

The dynamic measurement of strain is needed in several applications where frequent bending is experienced. For example, in the case of robotics and prosthesis, the strain sensors could indicate the bending of fingers or hand joints [1] , [2] . Likewise, it is needed to detect the damages to interconnects due to frequent bending in the flexible and wearable electrouics [3] - [5] . To this end, microchannel based teclmology can provide an efficient solution. This paper presents a flexible microfluidic channel-based sensor for the detection of dynamic strain. The sensor has been developed using Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The micro-channel (dia~175 pm), fabricated using replica molding technique, was made conductive by filling with poly (3.4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS) polymer. The developed strain sensor was subjected to various strains, which led to changes in the channel diameter and hence the resistance. We observed about 3 order (Δ R / R ~2800) increase in the resistance ( R ) value for 10% applied strain (Δ L / L. L = length of sensor) This lead to a gauge factor (GF= (Δ R / R )/(Δ L / L )) of ~280 for 10% applied strain, which is better (~70 tunes) than reported polymer based strain sensors [6] - [9] .

A back-gate-field-effect-transistor (BG-FET) has been developed to selectively detect ammonia and urea. The BG-FET was prepared on a p-type Si substrate with an n-type channel of CdS-TiO2 nanocomposite and poly-methyl methacrylate film as dielectric layer. The reusability of the sensor was ensured by putting it as a cover to a chamber where samples were detected. The BG-FET showed an increase in drain current with the increase in ammonia release from chamber because higher numbers of charge carriers were created when ammonia adsorped on CdS-TiO2 nanostructures. Control experiments suggested that the variation in current-to-voltage response of BG-FET could also be calibrated to measure the activity of a host of other hazardous gases. The lowest concentration of ammonia detected was ∼0.85 ppm with a response time of 30 s at a gate voltage of 0.5 V or less, which were superior than available field effect transistors ammonia sensors. Addition of urease in urine liberated ammonia equivalent to urea content in urine, which could be detected by the proposed BGFET. The urea-urease enzyme catalysis reaction made the sensor specific in detecting the biomarker. The accuracy, sensitivity, and reusability of the device was found to be suitable to develop a point-of-care testing device for ammonia and urea detection.

Activity of α-amylase enzyme in human serum indicates the onset of pancreatitis, mumps, cancer, stress, and depression. Herein we design and develop a biosensor for the point-of-care-testing (POCT) of α-amylase concentration in serum. The biosensor is composed of a glass substrate coated with an electrically conducting poly-aniline-emeraldine-salt (PANI-ES) film covered with starch-coated gold nanoparticles (SAuNPs). Addition of different dosage of α-amylase on the biosensor selectively depletes starch stabilized on the SAuNPs, which changes the electrical resistance of the sensor. The change in electrical resistance show a nearly linear correlation with the concentration of α-amylase in buffer, which helps the detection of unknown α-amylase activity in the blood serum. The biosensor responds in a specific manner owing to the use of selective enzymatic chemical reaction between α-amylase and starch. The pathways to SAuNP formation on PANI-ES, time-dependent starch digestion with α-amylase, and the subsequent variation in electrical response was characterized to uncover the sensing mechanism. The chloride ions and the AuNPs present catalyse the starch-amylase reaction on the PANI surface to enable a sensitive detection of α-amylase in serum (25 – 100 U/l) at a quick response time of ~60 s. Integration of the biosensor with the built-in sourcemeter and a real time display help an immediate presentation of α-amylase level in the serum, comparable to the clinically approved methodologies.

We study the spin dependent tunneling current properties through oxide multilayers in a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). For this purpose, nonequilibrium Green's function approach along-with the density-functional theory have been applied. We employed three structural models of FeO-MgO-FeO multi-layer with three different width of FeO and MgO layer. An atomistic model is considered to describe the effect of oxide multilayers of different heights. Spin dependent study for tunneling reveals that the parallel spin shows higher tunneling current whereas anti-parallel spin conducts very less. Further, the lowest tunneling current is obtained for the case where the FeO and MgO each has 3 atomic layers of height whereas the tunneling current is highest in 4 atomic layers of FeO/1 atomic layers of MgO/4 atomic layers of MgO multilayer structure. Importantly, when the MgO or FeO layers are increased or decreased from this level, the tunneling current decreases significantly. The study reveals that the layer height in the tunneling domain can be important factor for tuning and adjusting tunneling current in the nanoscale regime of oxide layer thickness.