Abstract Ionic hydrogel-based sensors (I-sensors) enable a wide range of wearable applications. However, limited by the signal carriers (i.e., ions) of ionic hydrogels, the I-sensors cannot work stably under commonly used portable direct current (DC) power sources for wearable devices owing to inevitable variation of their chemical compositions. Here, we present a new strategy for designing high-performance self-powered ionic hydrogel-based sensors (SPI-sensors) for wearable applications by simply replacing the metal electrodes of I-sensors with the battery electrodes. The strategy can not only maintain a stable ion concentration within I-sensors due to the insertion/extraction of ions on two battery electrodes during the signal transmission but also endow the sensors with self-powering capacity. The as-prepared SPI-sensors show ultrahigh stability, ultrawide sensing range (~2000%), and high sensitivity, and can recognize an ultrasmall strain of 0.01%, which is superior to the existing I-sensors. This study first demonstrates the feasibility of accurately detecting the full-range human motions based on the internal resistance change of well-designed batteries, paving a new way for practical application of I-sensors.

中文翻译：

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自供电离子传感器克服离子导体作为可穿戴传感设备的局限性

摘要 基于离子水凝胶的传感器 (I-sensor) 实现了广泛的可穿戴应用。然而，受离子水凝胶的信号载体（即离子）的限制，I-传感器由于其化学成分的不可避免的变化而无法在用于可穿戴设备的常用便携式直流（DC）电源下稳定工作。在这里，我们提出了一种新策略，通过简单地用电池电极替换 I 传感器的金属电极，设计用于可穿戴应用的高性能自供电离子水凝胶基传感器（SPI 传感器）。由于在信号传输过程中离子在两个电池电极上的插入/提取，该策略不仅可以在 I 传感器内保持稳定的离子浓度，而且还赋予传感器自供电能力。所制备的 SPI 传感器具有超高稳定性、超宽传感范围（~2000%）和高灵敏度，并且可以识别 0.01% 的超小应变，优于现有的 I 传感器。该研究首先证明了基于精心设计的电池内阻变化准确检测人体全方位运动的可行性，为I传感器的实际应用铺平了新的途径。