Patchable Transparent Standalone Piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE) Film for Radial Artery Pulse Detection

Abstract

Wearable or patchable biosensors have attracted tremendous attention due to their continuous health-monitoring capabilities. In particular, self-powered passive biosensors based on a piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) have demonstrated measurements of physiological signals from which cardiovascular information can be analyzed such as heart rate and blood pressure. However, challenges still remain with regard to both material and device aspects. For the effective and accurate measurement of extremely weak physiological signals, various methods have been introduced, including employment of inorganic lead-based piezoelectric materials and design of a complex material or device structure. In spite of their effectiveness in enhancing the piezoelectric output response, the introduced methods brought concomitant issues, such as toxicity and complexity. We present unique methods to produce a transparent standalone piezoelectric polymer film which can be directly transferred to any surface such as the human skin. Through a room temperature solvent vapor annealing process, we further enhance the crystallinity and a portion of the ferroelectric beta-phase of the transparent standalone polymer film, resulting in an improved piezoelectric output response. Based on these two new methods introduced, we demonstrate a simple sandwich-structured, transparent, and patchable biosensor based on PENG for radial artery detection with significantly reduced complex manufacturing processes, providing great practical value.