Laser induced, cost-effective manufacturing of stretchable electrochemical sensor for glucose monitoring

Chemical indicators in biofluids could provide tremendous amount of information, leading to great application potential of stretchable chemical sensors in the field of advanced clinical therapy and health monitoring. Graphene possesses excellent optical, electrical, and mechanical properties, making it highly promising for many applications in electrochemical sensing and biosensing. However, traditional methods of graphene preparation have notable limitations, such as low production efficiency or complex manufacturing processes. In this study, using laser induced graphene (LIG) produced on polyimide (PI) substrate, we propose a method to transfer LIG onto a flexible substrate using the semi-solidification state of PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane) and explore effects of temperature and time on transfer printing. As a result, the LIG/PDMS could serve as a flexible electrode and the electrode’s resistance only changes 14% after 70 cycles of 10% stretching. The practicality of the LIG/PDMS flexible electrode is effectively demonstrated through the electrodeposition of Prussian blue and detection of 50μM glucose, which could be used as stretchable glucose sensor in the future integrated chemical health monitoring systems.