Combination of the flexibility of polysaccharide-based aerogel with the conductivity and mechanical strength of carbon-based fillers is the ideal candidate for development of flexible strain sensors. In this study, exopolysaccharides (EPS) from Paenibacillus mucilaginosus (P.m) LT1906 was extracted. The microbial EPS and carbon nanotube (CNT) composite aerogel was fabricated. Using Na2CO3 as the deacetylation intensifier and BDDE as the cross-linker, EPS was constructed into the 3D interconnected porous structure physically compounded with CNT through facile freeze-drying technique. The resulting EPS/CNT composite aerogel can withstand a high compression strain of 70% and exhibits excellent fatigue resistance, with only 1.4% plastic deformation after 5000 cycles at 50% strain. It can also real-time test dynamic compression in the wide linear strain range of 0∼30%, with the low strain detection limit of 0.25%, sensitivity of 4.28 and the high resistance stability. Cyclable compressibility, high sensitivity and resistance stability have been verified in application trials in real-time and in-situ monitoring of human motions, especially subtle motion, thus suggesting feasibility of EPS/CNT composite aerogels in wearable strain sensors. The renewable and cost-effective microbe-derived polysaccharide as aerogel precursors will help to expand the application range of bio-polysaccharide aerogels.

多糖基气凝胶的柔韧性与碳基填料的导电性和机械强度相结合，是开发柔性应变传感器的理想选择。在这项研究中，来自粘液类芽孢杆菌( Pm) 提取了 LT1906。制备了微生物 EPS 和碳纳米管 (CNT) 复合气凝胶。使用 Na2CO3 作为脱乙酰增强剂和 BDDE 作为交联剂，通过简便的冷冻干燥技术将 EPS 构建成与 CNT 物理复合的 3D 互连多孔结构。所得 EPS/CNT 复合气凝胶可承受 70% 的高压缩应变并表现出优异的抗疲劳性，在 50% 应变下循环 5000 次后塑性变形仅为 1.4%。它还可以在0∼30%的宽线性应变范围内实时测试动态压缩，具有0.25%的低应变检测下限、4.28的灵敏度和高电阻稳定性。可循环压缩性，高灵敏度和电阻稳定性已经在实时和原位监测人体运动，特别是细微运动的应用试验中得到验证，从而表明EPS / CNT复合气凝胶在可穿戴应变传感器中的可行性。可再生且具有成本效益的微生物衍生多糖作为气凝胶前体将有助于扩大生物多糖气凝胶的应用范围。