In Situ Inorganic Salt-Enabled Laser-Induced Graphene for High-Performance Flexible Capacitive Humidity Sensing

Flexible capacitive humidity sensors are pivotal for next-generation wearable electronics and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. However, conventional devices suffer from severe salt leaching and delamination of hygroscopic sensing materials, alongside poor interfacial adhesion and mechanical fragility of metallic electrodes. Herein, an innovative in situ strategy is reported for constructing LiCl-CH3COOK/laser-induced graphene (LIG) composite flexible electrodes via single-step laser direct writing. This approach simultaneously patterns three-dimensional (3D) porous LIG interdigitated networks on polyimide substrates and drives deep infiltration of the LiCl-CH3COOK hygroscopic phase within the graphene pores. The 3D interconnected LIG skeleton not only provides abundant physical anchoring sites and rapid water vapor transport channels but also effectively suppresses the physical loss and leaching of the deliquesced salts through micro-nanoscale spatial confinement, yielding remarkable interfacial stability and cycling lifetime. Benefiting from the synergistic deliquescence of the composite salts, the sensor delivers an exceptional sensitivity of 65,570% (ΔC/C0), moderate response/recovery times of 75/90 s, and ultralow hysteresis of 0.981%. Furthermore, the streamlined laser-scribing route replaces conventional costly microfabrication sequences, enabling low-cost, high-precision customization. Demonstrations in human respiration monitoring and smart agriculture validate the sensor’s superior reliability and practical applicability, establishing a novel pathway for miniaturized, highly integrated, and robust flexible humidity detection systems.