Bioinspired Concept Reinforced Superhydrophobic Textile-Based Strain Sensor with Stable Human Motion Monitoring in Air and Water

Abstract Conventional textile-based strain sensors suffer from critical limitations in moisture-rich or aquatic environments due to their inherent hydrophilicity and weak interfacial adhesion between functional coatings and fibers, which severely restrict their practical application for human motion monitoring in amphibious scenarios. Herein, we proposed a bioinspired concept reinforced superhydrophobic textile (BCRST)-based strain sensor via a combined dipping–spraying technique, which integrated a biomimetic copolymer (HE-co-SV) as an adhesive bridge between a superelastic textile substrate and a fluorinated Fe3O4/MWCNTs conductive composite coating. Therefore, the sensor exhibited a GF of 3.81 (0–120% strain) and 16.1 (120–180% strain), excellent dynamic stability under cyclic stretching, and remarkable durability over 1000 cycles (25% strain). More importantly, the BCRST sensor maintained stable superhydrophobicity even under 180% strain and after 2000 deformation cycles (stretching, bending, and twisting, respectively), enabling reliable real-time monitoring of finger and wrist movements in both air and water, which conventional textile-based strain sensors could not achieve. This bioinspired strategy offers a satisfactory paradigm for designing amphibious, durable, and high-performance wearable sensors.