Direct-laser-conversion of Kevlar textile to laser-induced-graphene for realizing fast and flexible fabric strain sensors

The high-speed detection of strain distribution over free-form surfaces can provide invaluable information for smart maintenance, structural monitoring, and advanced healthcare. However, current strain sensors are not sufficiently fast, and their installation is troublesome. Textiles are widely used as base materials for composites, so textile strain sensors can be easily embedded into general surfaces. Here, we report the direct-laser-conversion of Kevlar textiles to laser-induced-graphene via ultrafast laser pulses for realizing fabric strain sensors. This sensor provides a fast response time of 18 ms with high sensitivity, so was applied to real-time detection of human heartbeats, articular motions, and composite dynamics.