Bionic Structural Design of Multifunctional Flexible Polypyrrole Sensors for Human Health Monitoring

ABSTRACT Rehabilitation medicine is an essential component of universal health coverage, while emerging electronic skin offers new opportunities for portable and personalized healthcare. However, flexible pressure sensors still face trade‐offs among sensitivity, detection range, and stability, and gas sensors remain challenged by low‐concentration detection and environmental robustness. Herein, a biomimetic “Thalia dealbata” microstructured hydrophobic polypyrrole/polydimethylsiloxane (S@PPy/PDMS) composite sensor was fabricated through a one‐step template method and controllable in situ polymerization. The biomimetic PDMS microstructure enhances pressure response, while conductive and NH 3 ‐sensitive PPy enables dual‐mode pressure and gas sensing on a single flexible platform. The sensor exhibits a wide pressure range of 0–25 kPa, a high sensitivity of 3.617 kPa − 1 , and excellent durability over 19 500 compression–release cycles. It also detects NH 3 concentrations as low as 1 ppm with stable performance over 60 days. The dual‐functional sensor enables complementary monitoring of mechanical physiological signals, including respiration, pulse, and body motion, together with metabolic information from exhaled NH 3 . A five‐channel sensor array further decodes numerical gestures with 100% accuracy via machine learning and wireless communication. Integrating respiratory mechanical sensing with exhaled NH 3 detection, this platform offers potential for longitudinal, noninvasive multiparametric monitoring, particularly for CKD assessment, human–machine interfaces, smart wearables, assistive technologies, and telemedicine.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small Methods
Published
2026-10-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.71134
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Bionic Structural Design of Multifunctional Flexible Polypyrrole Sensors for Human Health Monitoring

Zhongyan Gao, Lingling Peng, Bitao Liu, Wenbo Chen et al.
Small Methods
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

Bionic Structural Design of Multifunctional Flexible Polypyrrole Sensors for Human Health Monitoring

Zhongyan Gao, Lingling Peng, Bitao Liu, Wenbo Chen, Tong Feng, Enchong Ning, Zhuoyu Yang, Mingqian Sheng, Mingyang Qiu, Junlin Wang, Min Liao, Yanling Tan, Qinyan Liu, Huijian Liu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Rehabilitation medicine is an essential component of universal health coverage, while emerging electronic skin offers new opportunities for portable and personalized healthcare. However, flexible pressure sensors still face trade‐offs among sensitivity, detection range, and stability, and gas sensors remain challenged by low‐concentration detection and environmental robustness. Herein, a biomimetic “Thalia dealbata” microstructured hydrophobic polypyrrole/polydimethylsiloxane (S@PPy/PDMS) composite sensor was fabricated through a one‐step template method and controllable in situ polymerization. The biomimetic PDMS microstructure enhances pressure response, while conductive and NH 3 ‐sensitive PPy enables dual‐mode pressure and gas sensing on a single flexible platform. The sensor exhibits a wide pressure range of 0–25 kPa, a high sensitivity of 3.617 kPa − 1 , and excellent durability over 19 500 compression–release cycles. It also detects NH 3 concentrations as low as 1 ppm with stable performance over 60 days. The dual‐functional sensor enables complementary monitoring of mechanical physiological signals, including respiration, pulse, and body motion, together with metabolic information from exhaled NH 3 . A five‐channel sensor array further decodes numerical gestures with 100% accuracy via machine learning and wireless communication. Integrating respiratory mechanical sensing with exhaled NH 3 detection, this platform offers potential for longitudinal, noninvasive multiparametric monitoring, particularly for CKD assessment, human–machine interfaces, smart wearables, assistive technologies, and telemedicine.

Small Methods
Kunming University of Science and Technology (CN), Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences (CN), People's Hospital of Bishan District (CN), Chongqing Medical University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 24%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
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