Layered, Tunable Graphene Oxide-Nylon Heterostructures for Wearable Electrocardiogram Sensors

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel layered graphene oxide-nylon heterostructure for wearable ECG sensors, demonstrating its effectiveness and tunable properties through structural and electrical analyses and live testing.

Contribution

Introduction of a reduced graphene oxide-nylon composite with tunable electrical and optical properties for improved wearable ECG sensors.

Findings

Demonstrated the material's suitability for long-term ECG monitoring.

Confirmed the presence and quality of rGOx in the composite.

Showed the material's electrical tunability and signal transduction capability.

Abstract

Nanoscale engineered materials combined with wearable wireless technologies can deliver a new level of health monitoring. A reduced graphene oxide-nylon composite material is developed and tested, demonstrating its usefulness as a material for sensors in wearable, long-term electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring via a comparison to one of the widely used ECG sensors. The structural analysis by scanning electron (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) shows a limited number of defects on a macroscopic scale. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy confirm the presence of rGOx, and the ratio of D- and G-features as a function of thickness correlates with the resistivity analysis. The negligible effect of the defects and the tunability of electrical and optical properties, together with live ECG data, demonstrate its signal transduction capability.