Researchers use silk in monitoring health
Print Edition
SCIENTISTS from the Tsinghua University are using silk to develop a more sensitive and flexible generation of wearable sensors that monitor body functions in real time.
“There is a whole world of possibilities for silk sensors at the moment. Silk is the ideal material for fabricating sensors that are worn on the body,” said Zhang Yingying, one of the researchers presenting their work at this week’s National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in Los Angeles.
Body sensors, usually made with semiconductors, have shown great potential for monitoring human health. But they have their limitations. Strain sensors, which measure changes in force, cannot be both highly sensitive and highly stretchable.
Silk, a natural fiber that is stronger than steel and more flexible than nylon, could overcome these problems, according to a report by ScienceDaily.
The material is also lightweight and biocompatible.
“One possibility we foresee is for them to be used as an integrated wireless system that would allow doctors to more easily monitor patients remotely so that they can respond to their medical needs more rapidly than ever before,” Zhang said.
However, the fiber doesn’t conduct electricity very well. To address this challenge, the Tsinghua researchers sought to find a way to boost the conductivity of silk so it could be used in body-sensing devices.
They decided to try two diverse strategies.
In one method, they treated the silk in an inert gas environment at temperatures ranging from 600 to 3,000 degrees Celsius. Consequently, the silk became infused with N-doped carbon with some graphitized particles, which is electrically conductive.
Using this method, the researchers developed strain sensors, pressure sensors and a dual-mode sensor capable of measuring temperature and pressure at the same time.
In the other method, the team fed nanoparticles to silkworms. Some of these nanoparticles were naturally added into the silk produced by the worms. So far, this method has not produced electrically conductive fibers, but the researchers are confident they can make it work.
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