Abstract:
To address the critical limitations of commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes and conventional hydrogel electrodes, such as dehydration-induced failure and freezing at low temperatures, an innovative strategy utilizing a deep eutectic system to regulate
in situ polymerization was proposed. A hydrophobic lipoic acid (LA)-Thymol deep eutectic matrix was constructed using LA as the hydrogen bond acceptor and Thymol as the hydrogen bond donor, successfully reducing the melting point of LA within the eutectic system to approximately 33 ℃. A low viscosity precursor was prepared at room temperature by incorporating polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)∶poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT∶PSS) aqueous dispersion. Upon application to the skin, this system requires no ultraviolet light or high temperature assistance. Relying solely on the physiological body temperature of 37 ℃, it spontaneously triggers the
in situ ring opening polymerization of LA, forming a highly conformal composite deep eutectic gel (PP-DEG) flexible sensing electrode. The results demonstrate that the deep eutectic gel achieves a high conductivity of 89.6 S/m and exhibits excellent mechanical and adhesive properties, along with outstanding anti-freezing and long lasting moisturizing characteristics.
In vitro cytotoxicity, antibacterial, and antioxidant evaluations confirm the exceptional biocompatibility and tissue safety of this electrode. In the verification of surface electromyography signal acquisition, the electrode exhibits an extremely low contact impedance and a high static signal to noise ratio of 34.40 dB. Furthermore, it maintains excellent anti-baseline drift capability under vigorous motion conditions, demonstrating broad application prospects in the field of long-term flexible wearable physiological monitoring.