ZnO nanoparticles and carboxylated MWNTs multi-networks composite hydrogels with piezoelectric properties and human motion sensing

Piezoelectric composite hydrogels have been developed as interfaces connecting biological organs and electronic devices owing to their flexibility, biocompatibility, and electromechanical behavior, which enable the conversion of environmental stimuli into electronic signals. This study presents a multifunctional hydrogel that is soft, deformable, conductive, and piezoelectric. Using water as solvent and ZnO carbon nanotube (CNT) modified polyvinyl alcohol/agar/tannin as active ingredient, a one-pot green solution mixing method was used to prepare piezoelectric hydrogel with multi-network structure. The T5C5Z4 composite hydrogel designed in this paper has excellent performance in the sensing test, and can also clearly and accurately generate signals for slight movements of body parts. The T5C5Z4 composite hydrogel also has stable piezoelectric performance. In this paper designs a 100 g ball with a radius of 10 mm that falls freely from different heights and contacts with composite water (6 cm*3 cm*4 mm) to output different electrical signals, and the output voltage also increases with the height with increasing. The composite hydrogel has also been demonstrated as a sensing-detectable, piezoelectrically stimulated flexible bioelectronic materials.