Intelligent Wearable Respiratory Monitoring System Based on All-Electrospun Silver Nanowires/Graphene/Thermoplastic Polyurethane Strain Sensors

Respiration serves as a critical physiological indicator, with abnormalities in its patterns and rates closely associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, particularly sleep apnea syndrome (SAS). Wearable abdomen-mounted respiratory sensors offer a promising solution for long-term, comfortable, and noninvasive monitoring; however, the subtle mechanical deformations induced by respiration impose stringent requirements on sensor sensitivity and stability. Here, we report a versatile flexible strain sensor designed for comprehensive respiratory monitoring across diverse scenarios. This sensor adopts an all-fibrous and fully electrospun architecture composed of silver nanowires (AgNWs), graphene (GR), and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which is fabricated through a dual-channel hybrid electrospinning strategy. The sensor exhibits dual-regime sensitivity. It delivers a stable and linear gauge factor (GF) of 133.3 in the low-strain range (0-40%), which is highly suitable for high-fidelity daily respiration monitoring. Meanwhile, a high GF is achieved in the high-strain region (>40%), enabling the accurate capture of vigorous physiological behaviors such as severe coughing and strenuous exercise. This multi-range sensitivity endows the sensor with high precision for subtle biological signals and reliable responsiveness to intense physiological events, along with outstanding flexibility, mechanical durability, and wearable comfort. Benefiting from the highly interpenetrated three-dimensional conductive network, the sensor enables precise detection of minute respiratory-induced deformations. Furthermore, an integrated respiratory monitoring system is developed, allowing accurate identification of different respiratory states through feature signal extraction and analysis. This work provides an efficient and scalable strategy for constructing high-performance dual-regime flexible strain sensors and demonstrates their strong potential for wearable respiratory health monitoring applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
ACS Sensors
Published
2026-10-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.6c01120
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Intelligent Wearable Respiratory Monitoring System Based on All-Electrospun Silver Nanowires/Graphene/Thermoplastic Polyurethane Strain Sensors

Lu‐Qi Tao, Tian‐Ling Ren, Ding Li, Aobo Cheng et al.
ACS Sensors
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

Intelligent Wearable Respiratory Monitoring System Based on All-Electrospun Silver Nanowires/Graphene/Thermoplastic Polyurethane Strain Sensors

Lu‐Qi Tao, Tian‐Ling Ren, Ding Li, Aobo Cheng, Zeyu Geng, Yi Yang, Huijun Xiao, Xin Li, Yan Li, Baoqi Wang
article en

Abstract

Respiration serves as a critical physiological indicator, with abnormalities in its patterns and rates closely associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, particularly sleep apnea syndrome (SAS). Wearable abdomen-mounted respiratory sensors offer a promising solution for long-term, comfortable, and noninvasive monitoring; however, the subtle mechanical deformations induced by respiration impose stringent requirements on sensor sensitivity and stability. Here, we report a versatile flexible strain sensor designed for comprehensive respiratory monitoring across diverse scenarios. This sensor adopts an all-fibrous and fully electrospun architecture composed of silver nanowires (AgNWs), graphene (GR), and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which is fabricated through a dual-channel hybrid electrospinning strategy. The sensor exhibits dual-regime sensitivity. It delivers a stable and linear gauge factor (GF) of 133.3 in the low-strain range (0-40%), which is highly suitable for high-fidelity daily respiration monitoring. Meanwhile, a high GF is achieved in the high-strain region (>40%), enabling the accurate capture of vigorous physiological behaviors such as severe coughing and strenuous exercise. This multi-range sensitivity endows the sensor with high precision for subtle biological signals and reliable responsiveness to intense physiological events, along with outstanding flexibility, mechanical durability, and wearable comfort. Benefiting from the highly interpenetrated three-dimensional conductive network, the sensor enables precise detection of minute respiratory-induced deformations. Furthermore, an integrated respiratory monitoring system is developed, allowing accurate identification of different respiratory states through feature signal extraction and analysis. This work provides an efficient and scalable strategy for constructing high-performance dual-regime flexible strain sensors and demonstrates their strong potential for wearable respiratory health monitoring applications.

ACS Sensors
Soochow University (CN), Tsinghua University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 24%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
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