Integration of PEDOT:PSS into Cotton Yarn as Ion-Selective Sensors for Smart Clothing Applications

In recent years, textile sensors have played a crucial role in the development of smart clothing, which integrates electronic components and technology into garments. Furthermore, a variety of textile sensors in smart clothing have gained attention for their healthcare applications, including analyzing sweat, monitoring biomarkers, and sensing electrophysiology. The conductive polymer poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) has been explored for various applications, such as flexible and wearable electronics, neural interfaces, and bioelectronics devices. Herein, a sensitive and selective ion detection utilizing cotton yarn-based textile sensors integrated with ion-selective membranes (ISMs) is presented. First, a straightforward and reproducible approach for manufacturing textile sensors based on PEDOT:PSS is described. The relationship between the resistance change of these sensors and their performance, encompassing stability and flexibility is investigated. Following this, ISMs are integrated into the sensors to detect sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) ions, separately. The sensors display a consistent linear response toward the detected ion in a concentration range from 1 to 50 mM. Moreover, the sensors exhibit notable selectivity against the undesired ion.