Flexible pH sensors have attracted a great deal of attention in numerous applications, such as wearable healthcare devices, smart wound bandages, and other pH monitor sensors for chemical and bioprocess control. Herein, a facile approach to fabricate conducting polymer polypyrrole nanopillar arrays is proposed, and its potential as an advanced pH sensing interface is shown. Using oxygen plasma treatment as the etching tool, polypyrrole nanopillar/hair arrays can be prepared after etching 3D polypyrrole network structures. Conductive polypyrrole nanopillar arrays possessed unique advantages in sensing: their featured nanopillars has enhanced antibacterial properties; their structures showed excellent hydrophilicity and are favorable for interaction with analytes in small‐volume liquids. A flexible polypyrrole nanopillar array‐based potentiometric pH sensor integrated with a solid‐state reference electrode is further designed and fabricated. Superior performance with a near‐Nernstian response of 60.1±1.0 mV pH−1, excellent repeatability, high stability, and reproducibility is verified in the physiological pH range. The reliabilities of flexible and small‐volume sample testing, as well as the applicability for artificial sweat sample pH sensing, are examined. Provided with the advantages of antibacterial properties and hydrophilicity, the proposed flexible pH sensor is promising for trace analysis in biological, medical, and healthcare applications.

中文翻译：

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氧等离子体处理可控制备聚吡咯纳米柱/头发阵列及其作为抗菌柔性 pH 传感器的应用

柔性 pH 传感器在众多应用中引起了广泛关注，例如可穿戴医疗设备、智能伤口绷带以及其他用于化学和生物过程控制的 pH 监测传感器。本文提出了一种制造导电聚合物聚吡咯纳米柱阵列的简便方法，并显示了其作为先进 pH 传感接口的潜力。使用氧等离子体处理作为蚀刻工具，可以在蚀刻3D聚吡咯网络结构后制备聚吡咯纳米柱/毛发阵列。导电聚吡咯纳米柱阵列在传感方面具有独特的优势：其特征纳米柱具有增强的抗菌性能；它们的结构表现出优异的亲水性，有利于与小体积液体中的分析物相互作用。进一步设计并制造了一种集成有固态参比电极的基于柔性聚吡咯纳米柱阵列的电位pH传感器。性能优越，pH 值接近能斯特响应 60.1±1.0 mV−1，在生理pH范围内验证了优异的重复性、高稳定性和重现性。检查了灵活和小体积样品测试的可靠性，以及人工汗液样品 pH 感测的适用性。所提出的柔性pH传感器具有抗菌特性和亲水性的优点，有望用于生物、医学和保健应用中的痕量分析。