Wearable sensors show increasing potential for health monitoring and point-of-care applications, but major challenges for their wide-spread applications include low sensitivity, limited biocompatibility, and the high cost of the materials used in constructing such sensors. In this work, a flexible membrane-type composite scaffold derived from the multi-layered nanofibrous paper is demonstrated as a low-cost and biocompatible matrix, which upon embedding with dendronized gold nanoparticles function as the sensing interface with size- and shape-tunable structural diversity and molecular sensitivity. Key elements to the novelty include the immobilization of poly(ether-ester) dendrons with oligoethylene glycol spacers on gold nanoparticles and the combination of hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions between partially interpenetrating dendrons leading to tunable interparticle interaction and spacing. The sensitivity and selectivity of the sensors to volatile organic compounds will be discussed, along with the feasibility of exploring the nanomaterials for construction of wearable breath and sweat sensors.

Tunable chemical sensing interfaces using dendronized nanoparticles coupled with nanofibrous paper substrates

256th National Meeting (2018)

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