Strain sensors capable of recognizing the direction of strain are crucial in applications such as robot attitude adjustment and detection of strain states in complex structures. In this study, a sandwich-structured flexible biaxial strain sensor was developed using polydimethylsiloxane as the substrate, mechanoluminescent materials as the luminescent elements, and rubber-ink as the light-blocking layer. By correlating the emitted light color with the stretching state, precise identification of the applied strain direction is achieved. Additionally, the mechanoluminescence of the sensor is collected by a photodiode, generating photocurrent that can be analyzed. This provides a solution for practical applications of sensor.
Conducting polymer hydrogels have been considered as promising materials for flexible sensors. The integrated performances of ultrasoftness, high deformation, mechanical robustness, conformal adhesion, and high sensitivity are of great importance for their applications in wearable sensors but still remains challenging. Herein, a highly deformable conducting polymer hydrogel with ultrasoftness, tear resistance, and self-adhesiveness is fabricated by incorporating poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) and silk sericin (SS) into a covalently cross-linked polyacrylamide (PAM) network. Owing to abundant noncovalent interactions among the folded SS chains, PAM chains, and PEDOT:PSS, the obtained hydrogel shows a low modulus (10.3 kPa), ultrastretchability (>2000%), particularly large biaxial strain (an areal strain of 1700%), high toughness (tearing energy of 2.5 kJ/m2), and good conformal adhesion. As a result, this hydrogel demonstrates superior strain-sensitivity (gauge factor = 13.8) in a broad strain range (2000%) and excellent sensing reproducibility. The hydrogel-based wearable sensor can be used for accurately monitoring large and tiny human movements in real time and serves as bioelectrodes for precise gathering of electrocardiography and electromyography signals, showing great potential for applications in flexible sensing devices.