Multifunctional Conductive Nanofibers for Self-Powered Glucose Biosensors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Electrochemical glucose biosensors are crucial for diabetes management but face limitations like low sensitivity and reliance on external power.
• Self-powered systems offer an eco-friendly and innovative approach to overcome these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel multifunctional nanofiber integrating a glucose biosensor and a self-powered motion sensor using a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG).
• To enhance biosensor performance and energy harvesting capabilities through innovative material composition and fabrication.

Main Methods:

• Electrospinning of nanofibers using graphene oxide (GO), porous graphene (PG), graphene foam (GF), polypyrrole (PPy), and polycaprolactone (PCL).
• Fabrication of dip-coated and core-sheath nanofibers for enhanced conductivity and mechanical strength.
• Electrochemical analysis (cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry) for glucose detection.
• Triboelectric tests to evaluate energy harvesting performance.
• Mechanical testing for durability and resilience.

Main Results:

• PCL/PPy/GO nanofibers exhibited the highest glucose detection performance due to efficient electron transfer.
• Dip-coated nanofibers showed the highest conductivity (4.9 × 10⁻⁵ S/cm) attributed to GO's surface properties.
• Triboelectric tests yielded peak voltages of 63V with PCL/PPy/GO and polyvinylidene fluoride nanofibers.
• Nanofibers demonstrated significant mechanical resilience (∼0.9 N force, ∼350 s durability).

Conclusions:

• PCL/PPy/GO nanofibers represent a multifunctional, efficient, and scalable solution for diabetes management.
• The developed system offers highly sensitive glucose detection, non-invasive sweat analysis, and robust energy harvesting.
• This technology paves the way for environmentally friendly and advanced self-powered diabetes management systems.