Dual-Responsive Photonic Crystal Sensors Based on Physical Crossing-Linking SF-PNIPAM Dual-Crosslinked Hydrogel

Flexible wearable materials have frequently been used in drug delivery, healthcare monitoring, and wearable sensors for decades. As a novel type of artificially designed functional material, photonic crystals (PCs) are sensitive to the changes in the external environment and stimuli signals. However, the rigidity of the PCs limits their application in the field of biometric and optical sensors. This study selects silk fibroin (SF) and poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) as principal components to prepare the hydrogel with the physical crosslinking agent lithium silicate (LMSH) and is then integrated with PCs to obtain the SF-PNIPAM dual-crosslinked nanocomposite for temperature and strain sensing. The structural colors of the PCs change from blue to orange-red by the variation in temperature or strain. The visual temperature-sensing and adhesion properties enable the SF-PNIPAM dual-crosslinked nanocomposite to be directly attached to the skin in order to monitor the real-time dynamic of human temperature. Based on its excellent optical properties and biocompatibility, the SF-PNIPAM dual-crosslinked nanocomposite can be applied to the field of visual biosensing, wearable display devices, and wound dressing materials.