Twisted graphene fibre based breathable, wettable and washable anti-jamming strain sensor for underwater motion sensing

Wearable electronics have promising applications in human–machine interfaces and Internet of Things. Recent reported wearable sensing techniques are implemented mainly by either encapsulated packaging approaches or deposition of conductive nanomaterials onto flexible textiles. However, such fabrication technologies sacrifice the physical comfort, washability and wettability which are the essential elements to wearables. In this paper, we report a continuous twisted graphene fibre with high tensile strength (369 MPa) and remarkable breaking strain (48.5%), as well as stable electrical and mechanical performances under cyclic washing and chronic wetting. The as-prepared twisted graphene fibre is woven into a pure fabric-based breathable, wettable and washable strain sensor with outstanding sensitivity (gauge factor = 63) to strain while negligible sensitivity upon bend, pressure, temperature and humidity. The strain sensor displays undifferentiated high performance of sensitivity, stability and durability both in air and water, enabling its precise detection of human motions in complex external environment.