Multifunctional conductive yarns based on cotton integrated knitting fabric strain sensor for human motion monitoring

Knitting strain sensor capable of monitoring health signals and activities showing great potential in human motion monitoring. Integrating multifunctional conductive yarns into apparel to be wearable and durable remains great challenge in their practical application. Herein, a novel knitting fabric strain sensor with good sensitivity and processability was proposed, varied of conductive yarns were firstly fabricated with cotton based multifunctional fibers, and then they were designed and knitted into organization structures such as plain, rib and gauze weave. The strain sensor exhibited relatively smooth surfaces and complex structures, fabric 3# and fabric 4# presented the largest tensile strength, while that of fabric 1# and fabric 2# were relatively smaller. There were little changings for the prepared four fabrics, due to their similar elemental compositions, and the four prepared fabrics were observed to have good pilling ability, air permeability, and wearability. Fabric 1# consisted of slivered yarns + acrylic/cotton presented the best conductivities and sensing stability among the samples. In sum, all the prepared fabrics had shown greatly potential in the human motion monitoring application. • A novel strain sensor with good sensitivity and processability was proposed. • Conductive yarns were fabricated with cotton based multifunctional fibers. • Knitting organization structures show greatly potential for motion monitoring.