Nonenzymatic Flexible Wearable Biosensors for Vitamin C Monitoring in Sweat

Nutritional status monitoring plays an important role in the maintenance of human health and disease prevention. Monitoring the intake of vitamins can support the improvement of diet behavior. In this work, a polyaniline (PANI) film-based nonenzymatic electrochemical sensor was prepared to track the vitamin C level in sweat. The PANI film was modified with organic acids (ethylformic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and phytic acid). The phytic acid-modified PANI film based on sensor has a wide detection range (0.5-500 μmol·L-1), high sensitivity (665.5 and 326.2 μA·(mmol·L-1)-1·cm-2), and low detection limit (0.17 μmol·L-1) toward vitamin C in sweat. The phytate enhances the band transport between PANI chains, which increases the electrical conductivity of the film to improve the electrochemical properties of the sensor. In addition, we monitored changes of vitamin C levels in human body after taking vitamin C pills by detecting sweat or saliva. The ability to track the pharmacological profile demonstrates the potential of PANI film-based sensors for applications in personalized nutritional intake and tracking. And a simple and portable vitamin C detection system was developed to improve the practicability of the sensor. This work provides an idea for the application of wearable electrochemical sensing devices in nutrition guidance.