Flexible Ti3C2Tx MXene/PANI/Bacterial Cellulose Aerogel for e-Skins and Gas Sensing

Flexible pressure sensors made of carbon materials have been used in electronic skins (e-skins), whose performance can be enhanced if composite sensing materials are used. Herein, an MXene/polyaniline/bacterial cellulose (MXene/PANI/BC) aerogel sensor has been fabricated through the self-assembly process between the MXene and one-dimensional active material. Combined with fewer-layer or single-layer MXenes, the as-fabricated aerogel could be used as the active layer of the pressure sensor, monitoring tiny motion signals of finger bending, wrist bending, and pulse beating. Bluetooth wireless transmission could also be realized to monitor the real-time spatial pressure distributions on the mobile phone, making the aerogel-based sensor an ideal candidate in e-skins. Meanwhile, the aerogel-based sensor is sensitive toward NH₃ due to the unique three-dimensional (3D) structure of the aerogel and the abundant terminal groups (such as -O, -OH, and -F) of the MXene in the system that ensure efficient electronic transfer for the sensing process and create active sites for the absorption with the target gas. This work offers a versatile platform to develop MXenes to fabricate 3D composite aerogels for high-performance flexible multiple sensors.