All-in-one multifunctional and stretchable electrochemical fiber enables health-monitoring textile with trace sweat

Breathable and comfortable sensing textiles that can detect multi-biomarkers existing in human sweat are a promising way to achieve comprehensive health monitoring in our daily life. However, current wearable and flexible electrochemical textiles lack stretchability, which can result in unstable signals or device damage during movement. Additionally, these textiles have limited integration of multiple indicators, needing a large surface area and a significant amount of sweat to activate the sensors. Herein, we report an integrated all-in-one multifunctional electrochemical biosensor fiber constructed with a helical core-sheath structure, offering the stretchability and ability to detect biomarkers with trace amounts of sweat. The biosensor was fabricated by arranging multi-functionalized carbon nanotube strips in a spiral pattern alongside a pre-stretched polymer fiber core acting as microelectrodes with robust interface. Additionally, a super-hydrophilic sheath layer is incorporated to enhance the sweat capture efficiency of the biosensor. The biosensor has the capability to simultaneously monitor six biomarkers including pH, K⁺, Na⁺, glucose, lactate and uric acid, demonstrating stable sensing performance under 300% strain. Merely 1 of sweat is needed to initiate the detection of all six biomarkers. The resulting textile sensing system presents continuous and real-time monitoring of multi-biomarker information, allowing for the assessment of our health condition.[Figure not available: see fulltext.].