Highly Tough, Stretchable, Self-Adhesive and Strain-Sensitive DNA-Inspired Hydrogels for Monitoring Human Motion

Hydrogels used as strain sensors often rely on splicing tapes to attach them to surfaces, which causes much inconvenience. Therefore, to develop strain sensor hydrogels that possess both good mechanical properties and self-adhesion is still a great challenge. Inspired by the multiple hydrogen bonding interactions of nucleobases in DNA, we designed and synthesized a series of hydrogels PAAm-GO-Aba/Tba/Aba+Tba comprising polyacrylamide (PAAm), graphene oxide (GO), acrylated adenine and thymine (Aba and Tba). The introduction of nucleobases helps hydrogels to adhere to various substrates through multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions. It has also been found that the adhesive strength of hydrogels with nucleobases for hogskin increased to 2.5 times that of those without nucleobases. Meanwhile, these hydrogels exhibited good dynamic mechanical and self-recovery properties. They can be directly attached to human skin as strain sensors to monitor the motions of finger, wrist, and elbow. Electrical tests indicate that they give precise real-time monitoring data and exhibit good strain sensitivity and electrical stability. This work provides a promising basis from which to explore the fabrication of tough, self-adhesive, and strain-sensitive hydrogels as strain sensors for applications in wearable devices and healthcare monitoring.