Biomimetics-Inspired Honeycomb-Structured Fabric Enables Stress–Strain Sensing Applications

Flexible sensors are pivotal in advancing smart wearable devices, offering exceptional flexibility, adaptability, and wearability. Unlike other flexible sensors, fabric sensors excel by integrating seamlessly into textiles, enabling continuous, real-time monitoring while prioritizing wearer comfort. In this study, researchers have developed a high-performance fabric sensor using silver-coated nylon yarn as the substrate, enhanced by an innovative honeycomb structure design. The resulting sensor exhibited a broad strain response range (30%), high sensitivity (gauge factor, GF = 5.5 at <10% strain and 53.7 at 15–30% strain), rapid response/recovery times (∼0.3 s), and excellent cyclic stability (signal fluctuation remained within ±5% after 5,000 bending cycles). Simultaneously, the sensor displayed exceptional electrothermal properties, achieving temperatures of 34–73 °C within 25 s under low driving voltages (0.5–3.0 V), with a linear temperature–voltage squared relationship. When monitoring human joint movements (fingers, wrists, and knees), it accurately identified flexion angles (0–120°) and motion intensities (slow/fast walking, running) while also having satisfactory wearing comfort, such as air permeability, moisture permeability, and water resistance, underscoring its substantial potential for health monitoring applications.