Based on In Situ Electrode Corespun Yarn Ion Sensor and Its Arrayed Fabric for Electrical Impedance Tomography

Flexible sensors have significant application potential in various areas, such as wearable devices, medical condition monitoring, and smart materials. However, these sensors mostly require integrated external electrodes, resulting in complex structures that limit flexibility and integration. This study integrates an in situ functional core as the electrode and a nanofiber sheath that serves dually as the sensing layer and ion transport channel, thereby simplifying the structural complexity of conventional multilayer sensors. Through conjugated electrospinning, a corespun yarn ion sensor was fabricated using silver-plated yarn as the core and P(VDF-HFP)–IL nanofibers as the sheath, eliminating the need for external electrodes. The resulting sensor is capable of real-time, in situ detection of both pressure and temperature stimuli, with a pressure sensitivity of 2.30 kPa–1 within the range of 0–100 kPa and a temperature sensitivity of 0.517 °C–1 within the range of 24–55 °C. The pressure range is up to 700 kPa. Additionally, the sensor shows excellent cyclic stability (>4000 cycles) and moisture permeability. Using textile technology, the corespun yarn ion sensors can be woven into fabrics to achieve real-time mapping of electromyographic parameters through an electrical impedance tomography system.