Sustainable Biointerfaces in Wearable Sensors: Engineered Biopolymers for Continuous Health Surveillance and Diagnostics

Wearable biosensors are an emerging field in the area of health monitoring, and when they combine with various biopolymers, they provide affordable, sustainable, noninvasive, and real-time monitoring of health. Natural biopolymers such as silk, cellulose, and chitosan offer great potential in the fabrication of these biosensors because of their various properties, such as biocompatibility, flexibility, biodegradability, hydrophilicity, and renewability. These biopolymer-based wearable biosensors provide continuity and comfort with high precision in monitoring health in less time. This Account explores how the remarkable structural and physicochemical properties of these biopolymers support their fabrication and integration into wearable biosensors that can withstand the dynamic environment of the human body. Leveraging these biopolymers enables the development of eco-friendly and skin-conformable biosensors for glucose, lactate, and other biofluids including saliva, sweat, tears, and other interstitial fluids. These biopolymers are of significant importance in the domains of personalized medicine, enhancing athletic performance tracking, and chronic disease management for next-generation wearable devices.