Citation

Ning Zhou, Luwei Zhang, Ting Cui, Peiyi Wu* and Zhouyue Lei*. Design and applications of conductive polymers in wearable electrophysiological sensing.  Sci. China Technol. Sci. 2025, 68, 2200204.

Abatract

Developing wearable sensors that can perform seamless, long-term electrophysiological monitoring requires materials that can bridge the mechanical and electrical gap between rigid electronics and soft biological tissues. Conductive polymers are well-placed to meet this demand thanks to their intrinsic flexibility, tunable conductivity, and biocompatibility. This review systematically analyses the progress in the design and application of conductive polymers for wearable electrophysiological sensing. First, we discuss how the fundamental sensing mechanisms of piezoresistive, capacitive, piezoelectric, and triboelectric are realized through various conductive polymer systems, including intrinsically conductive polymers, nanocomposites, and ion-conducting networks such as hydrogels and ionogels. The core of the review emphasizes the interplay between molecular-level material design and micro/nanoscale structural engineering to enhance critical performance metrics such as sensitivity, long-term stability, and electrode-skin interface quality. Finally, we address the persistent challenges of motion artefacts and material degradation, and provide an outlook on future directions. Continued innovation in multifunctional, self-powered, and biodegradable conductive polymers, when integrated with advanced data analytics, is set to drive the evolution of wearable sensing towards truly personalized and predictive healthcare.