A graphene-coated silk-spandex fabric strain sensor for human movement monitoring and recognition

Flexible and stretchable sensors are emerging and promising wearable devices for motion monitoring. Manufacturing a flexible and stretchable strain sensor with desirable electromechanical performance and excellent skin compatibility plays an essential role in building a smart wearable system. In this paper, a graphene-coated silk-spandex (GCSS) fabric strain sensor is prepared by reducing graphene oxide. The sensor functions as a result of conductive fiber extending and woven structure deforming. The conductive fabric can be stretched towards 60% with high sensitivity, and its performance remains constant after a 1000-cycle test. Based on its superior performance, the GCSS is successfully employed to detect full-range human movement and provide data for deep learning-based gesture recognition. This work offers a desirable method to fabricate low-cost strain sensors for industrial applications such as human movement detection and advanced information science.