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Towards biodegradable conducting polymers by incorporating seaweed cellulose for decomposable wearable heaters.

ABSTRACT: Thermotherapy shows significant potential for pain relief and enhanced blood circulation in wildlife rehabilitation, particularly for injured animals. However, the widespread adoption of this technology is hindered by the lack of biodegradable, wearable heating pads and concerns surrounding electronic waste (E-waste) in natural habitats. This study addresses this challenge by investigating an environmentally-friendly composite comprising poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), seaweed cellulose, and glycerol. Notably, this composite exhibits remarkable biodegradability, losing half of its weight within one week and displaying noticeable edge degradation by the third week when placed in soil. Moreover, it demonstrates impressive heating performance, reaching a temperature of 51 °C at a low voltage of 1.5 V, highlighting its strong potential for thermotherapy applications. The combination of substantial biodegradability and efficient heating performance offers a promising solution for sustainable electronic applications in wildlife rehabilitation and forest monitoring, effectively addressing the environmental challenges associated with E-waste.

SUBMITTER: Teo MY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10475983 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Towards biodegradable conducting polymers by incorporating seaweed cellulose for decomposable wearable heaters.

Teo Mei Ying MY Lim Keemi K Aw Kean C KC Kee Seyoung S Stringer Jonathan J

RSC advances 20230801 37

Thermotherapy shows significant potential for pain relief and enhanced blood circulation in wildlife rehabilitation, particularly for injured animals. However, the widespread adoption of this technology is hindered by the lack of biodegradable, wearable heating pads and concerns surrounding electronic waste (E-waste) in natural habitats. This study addresses this challenge by investigating an environmentally-friendly composite comprising poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PE ...[more]

PMID: 37670998

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Project description:Wearable mechanical sensors have the potential to transform healthcare by enabling patient monitoring outside of the clinic. A critical challenge in the development of mechanical—e.g., strain—sensors is the combination of sensitivity, dynamic range, and robustness. This work describes a highly sensitive and robust wearable strain sensor composed of three layered materials: graphene, an ultrathin film of palladium, and highly plasticized PEDOT:PSS. The role of the graphene is to provide a conductive, manipulable substrate for the deposition of palladium. When deposited at low nominal thicknesses (~8 nm) palladium forms a rough, granular film which is highly piezoresistive (i.e., the resistance increases with strain with high sensitivity). The dynamic range of these graphene/palladium films, however, is poor, and can only be extended to ~10% before failure. This fragility renders the films incompatible with wearable applications on stretchable substrates. To improve the working range of graphene/palladium strain sensors, a layer of highly plasticized PEDOT:PSS is used as a stretchable conductive binder. That is, the conductive polymer provides an alternative pathway for electrical conduction upon cracking of the palladium film and the graphene. The result was a strain sensor that possessed good sensitivity at low strains (0.001% engineering strain) but with a working range up to 86%. The piezoresistive performance can be optimized in a wearable device by sandwiching the conductive composite between a soft PDMS layer in contact with the skin and a harder layer at the air interface. When attached to the skin of the torso, the patch-like strain sensors were capable of detecting heartbeat (small strain) and respiration (large strain) simultaneously. This demonstration highlights the ability of the sensor to measure low and high strains in a single interpolated signal, which could be useful in monitoring, for example, obstructive sleep apnea with an unobtrusive device. Graphical Abstract

Dataset Information

Towards biodegradable conducting polymers by incorporating seaweed cellulose for decomposable wearable heaters.

Publications

Towards biodegradable conducting polymers by incorporating seaweed cellulose for decomposable wearable heaters.

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