Superhydrophobic Functionalized Ti3C2Tx MXene-Based Skin-Attachable and Wearable Electrochemical pH Sensor for Real-Time Sweat Detection

Sweat pH is a critical indicator for evaluating human health. With the extensive attention on the wearable and flexible biosensing devices, the technology for the monitoring of human sweat can be realized. In this study, a sensitive, miniaturized, and flexible electrochemical sweat pH sensor was developed for the continuous and real-time monitoring of the hydrogen-ion concentration in human sweat. A flexible electrode was fabricated on the poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrate by a simple and low-cost screen-printing technology, which was based on the integration of fluoroalkyl silane-functionalized Ti₃C₂T_x (F-Ti₃C₂T_x) and the polyaniline (PANI) membrane technology instead of the traditional ion-sensitive membrane. The surface functionalization strategy for Ti₃C₂T_x with perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane can provide environmental stability. Functionalized Ti₃C₂T_x (F-Ti₃C₂T_x) was doped with PANI to obtain improved responsiveness, sensitivity, and reversibility. The constructed microsize, portable, and wearable F-Ti₃C₂T_x/PANI pH sensor aimed to real-time monitor the pH value of human sweat during exercise. On-body sweat pH monitoring for females and males, respectively, exhibited high accuracy and continuous stability compared with ex situ analyses. This study thus offers a facile and practical solution for developing a highly reliable MXene-based mini-type pH sensor to realize the online monitoring of human sweat pH.