Wearable electrochemical sweat sensors are potentially promising for health monitoring in a continuous and non-invasive mode with high sensitivity. However, due to the complexity of sweat composition and the growth of skin bacteria, the wearable sweat sensors may gradually lose their sensitivity or even fail over time. To deal with this issue, herein, we proposed a new strategy to construct wearable sweat sensors with antifouling and antimicrobial capabilities. Amyloid albumin hydrogels (ABSAG) were doped with two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial MXene and CeO2 nanorods to obtain the antifouling and antimicrobial amyloid albumin composite hydrogels (ABSACG, CeO2/MXene/ABSAG), and the wearable sensors were prepared by modifying flexible screen-printed electrodes with the ABSACG. Within this sensing system, the hydrophilic ABSAG possesses strong hydration capability, and it can form a hydration layer on the electrode surface to resist biofouling in sweat. The 2D nanomaterial MXene dispersed in the hydrogel endows the hydrogel with good conductivity and electrocatalytic capability, while the doping of CeO2 nanorods further improves the electrocatalytic performance of the hydrogel and also provides excellent antimicrobial capability. The designed wearable electrochemical sensors based on the ABSACG demonstrated satisfying antifouling and antimicrobial abilities, and they were capable of detecting dopamine accurately in human sweat. It is expected that wearable sensors utilizing the antifouling and antimicrobial ABSACG may find practical applications in human body fluids analysis and health monitoring.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of stress generally involves uses of questionnaires which can provide biased results. The more reliable approach relies on observation of individual symptoms by psychiatrists which is time consuming and could not be applicable for massive scale screening tests. This research established alternative approaches with gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) and electronic nose (e-nose) to perform fast stress screening based on fingerprinting of highly volatile compounds in headspaces of sweat. The investigated samples were obtained from 154 female nurse volunteers who also provided the data of questionnaire-based mental health scores with the high stress cases confirmed by psychiatrists.
RESULTS: The interviews by psychiatrists revealed 14 volunteers with high stress. Their axillary sweat samples and that from 32 nurses with low/moderate stress (controls) were collected onto cotton rods and analysed with GC-IMS. The possible marker peaks were selected based on the accuracy data. They were tentatively identified as ammonia, diethyl ether, methanol, octane, pentane, acetone and dimethylamine which could involve different endogenous mechanisms or the relationships with the local microbiomes. The data were further analysed using partial least squares discriminant analysis with the receiver operating characteristic curves showing the optimum accuracy, sensitivity and selectivity of 87%, 86% and 88%, respectively. Providing that the samples were obtained from the nurses without deodorant uses, the high stress cases could be screened using e-nose sensors with the accuracy of 89%. The sensor responses could be correlated with the marker peak area data in GC-IMS with the coefficients ranging from -0.70 to 0.80.
CONCLUSIONS: This represents the first investigation of highly volatile compound markers in sweat for high stress screening. The established methods were simple, reliable, rapid and non-invasive, which could be further adapted into the portable platform of e-nose sensors with the practical application to perform the screening tests for nurses in Phra Nakorn Si Ayutthaya hospital, Thailand.

In this study, we conducted a literature review to deepen our understanding of the sweating response of the thermoregulatory system, focusing on the influence of individual characteristics and local body functions. Among the factors related to individual characteristics, improvement in aerobic fitness had a positive effect on the sweating response, whereas aging exerted an inhibitory effect. Short-term artificial acclimation and seasonal heat acclimatization promoted sweating, whereas long-term geographical acclimatization suppressed sweating. Male exhibited higher sweat rates than female when the metabolic heat production was high. Individuals with smaller surface area-to-mass ratios tended to have higher sweat rates than those with larger ratios. Regarding local body functions, sweat distribution in the resting state showed high regional sweat rates in the lower limbs and torso, with higher values in the lower limbs when in the supine position and higher values in the torso when in the seated position. During exercise, the regional sweat rates was high in the torso, whereas the limbs exhibited relatively low sweat rates. These differences in sweat distribution stem from the thermoregulatory potential of each body region, which aims to efficiently regulate body temperature. Local effects have only been examined in the thigh and forearm, with temperature coefficient Q10 ranging from 2 to 5. Only the forehead showed significantly high thermosensitivity among all body regions.

The synthesis of cobalt nanocrystal-graphene quantum dot-Ti3C2TX monolithic film electrode (Co-GQD-Ti3C2TX) is reported via self-assembly of Ti3C2TX nanosheets induced by protonated arginine-functionalized graphene quantum dot and subsequent reduction of cobalt (III). The resulting Co-GQD-Ti3C2TX shows good monolithic architecture, mechanical property, dispersibility and conductivity. The structure achieves excellent supercapacitor and sensing behavior. The self-charging supercapacitor produced by printing viscous Co-GQD-Ti3C2TX hydrogel on the back of flexible solar cell surface provides high specific capacitance (296 F g-1 at 1 A g-1), high-rate capacity (153 F g-1 at 20 A g-1), capacity retention (98.1% over 10,000-cycle) and energy density (29.6 W h kg-1 at 299.9 W kg-1). The electrochemical chip produced by printing Co-GQD-Ti3C2TX hydrogel on paper exhibits sensitive electrochemical response towards uric acid. The increase of uric acid between 0.01 and 800 μM causes a linear increase in differential pulse voltammetry signal with a detection limit of 0.0032 μM. The self-powered sensing platform integrating self-charging supercapacitor, electrochemical chip and micro electrochemical workstation was contentedly applied to monitoring uric acid in sweats and shows one broad application prospect in wearable electronic health monitoring device.

The real-time monitoring of low-concentration cytokines such as TNF-α in sweat can aid clinical physicians in assessing the severity of inflammation. The challenges associated with the collection and the presence of impurities can significantly impede the detection of proteins in sweat. This issue is addressed by incorporating a nanosphere array designed for automatic sweat transportation, coupled with a reusable sensor that employs a Nafion/aptamer-modified MoS2 field-effect transistor. The nanosphere array with stepwise wettability enables automatic collection of sweat and blocks impurities from contaminating the detection zone. This device enables direct detection of TNF-α proteins in undiluted sweat, within a detection range of 10 fM to 1 nM. The use of an ultrathin, ultraflexible substrate ensures stable electrical performance, even after up to 30 extreme deformations. The findings indicate that in clinical scenarios, this device could potentially provide real-time evaluation and management of patients\' immune status via sweat testing.

Herein we report a wearable sweat sensor of a Janus fabric based on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology, mainly detecting the two important metabolites glucose and lactate. Janus fabric is composed of electrospinning PU on a piece of medical gauze (cotton), working as the unidirectional moisture transport component (R = 1305%) to collect and transfer sweat efficiently. SERS tags with different structures act as the probe to recognize and detect the glucose and lactate in high sensitivity. Core-shell structured gold nanorods with DTNB inside (AuNRs@DTNB@Au) are used to detect lactate, while gold nanorods with MPBA (AuNRs@MPBA) are used to detect glucose. Through the characteristic SERS information, two calibration functions were established for the concentration determination of glucose and lactate. The concentrations of glucose and lactate in sweat of a 23 years volunteer during three-stage interval running are tested to be 95.5, 53.2, 30.5 μM and 4.9, 13.9, 10.8 mM, indicating the glucose (energy) consumption during exercise and the rapid accumulation of lactate at the early stage accompanied by the subsequent relief. As expected, this sensing system is able to provide a novel strategy for effective acquisition and rapid detection of essential biomarkers in sweat.

Real-time detection of renal biomarkers is crucial for immediate and continuous monitoring of kidney function, facilitating early diagnosis and intervention in kidney-related disorders. This proactive approach enables timely adjustments in treatment plans, particularly in critical situations, and enhances overall patient care. Wearable devices emerge as a promising solution, enabling non-invasive and real-time data collection. This comprehensive review investigates numerous types of wearable sensors designed to detect kidney biomarkers in body fluids such as sweat. It critically evaluates the precision, dependability, and user-friendliness of these devices, contemplating their seamless integration into daily life for continuous health tracking. The review highlights the potential influence of wearable technology on individualized renal healthcare and its role in preventative medicine while also addressing challenges and future directions. The review\'s goal is to provide guidance to academics, healthcare professionals, and technologists working on wearable solutions for renal biomarker detection by compiling the body of current knowledge and advancements.

The pH of human sweat is highly related with a variety of diseases, whereas the monitoring of sweat pH still remains challenging for ordinary families. In this study, we developed a novel dual-emission Tb-MOF using DPA as the ligand and further designed and constructed a skin-attachable Tb-MOF ratio fluorescent sensor for real-time detection of human sweat pH. With the increased concentration of H+, the interaction of H+ with carbonyl organic ligand leads to the collapse of the Tb-MOF crystal structure, resulting in the interruption of antenna effect, and correspondingly increasing the emission of the ligand at 380 nm and decreasing the emission of the central ion Tb3+ at 544 nm. This Tb-MOF nanoprobe has a good linear response in the pH range of 4.12-7.05 (R2 = 0.9914) with excellent anti-interference ability. Based on the merits of fast pH response and high sensitivity, the nanoprobe was further used to prepare flexible wearable sensor. The wearable sensor can detect pH in the linear range of 3.50-6.70, which covers the pH range of normal human sweat (4.50-6.50). Subsequently, the storage stability and detection accuracy of the sensors were evaluated. Finally, the sensor has been successfully applied for the detection of pH in actual sweat samples from 21 volunteer and the real-time monitoring of pH variation during movement processing. This skin-attachable Tb-MOF sensor, with the advantages of low cost, visible color change and long shelf-life, is appealing for sweat pH monitoring especially for ordinary families.

Effective sweat management fabric for sportswear facilitates sweat removal from the skin and elevates the comfort for human. However, when the body is in a strong hot and humid environment or after strenuous exercise, the sweat management fabric will be totally wetted and saturated quickly. As a result, excess sweat cannot be absorbed effectively by the garment, which creates obvious stickiness and heaviness. In this paper, a directional water transport and collection multilayered knitted fabric (DWTCF) is prepared by plasma pretreatment technology and screen coating. The treelike water transport network inspired from nature is designed in order to drive the liquid flow along the channels. By surface modification, branched hydrophilic flow paths are fabricated, and other regions are hydrophobic. As a demonstration, DWTCF has been injected with water to observe the liquid transport behavior. During the experiment, 76.7% liquid is collected by DWTCF, but there is just 0.06% collected by an ordinary knitted fabric. The weight increase of the ordinary fabric is 555.4% larger than that of DWTCF. Specifically, DWTCF utilizes the wetting and pressure-gradient-induced interfacial tension as well as the gravitational effect to facilitate the fluid motion along the hydrophilic channel, in addition to the capillarity present in the fabric structure. This study provides a new idea to develop directional water transport and collection fabric to solve the moisture absorption saturation problem of the fabric, especially for conditions requiring intense sweating.

Non-invasive continuous health monitoring has become feasible with the advancement of biosensors. While monitoring certain biomarkers such as heart rate or skin temperature are now at a certain maturity, monitoring molecular biomarkers is still challenging. Progress has been shown in sampling, measurement, and interpretation of data toward non-invasive molecular sensors that can be integrated into daily wearable items. Toward this goal, this paper explores the potential of embroidered interdigitated transducer (IDT)-based sensors for non-invasive, continuous monitoring of human biomarkers, particularly glucose levels, in human sweat. The study employs innovative embroidery techniques to create flexible fabric-based sensors with gold-coated IDTs. In controlled experiments, we have shown the variation of glucose concentration in water can be wirelessly detected by tracking the resonant frequency of the embroidered sensors. The current sensors operate at 1.8 GHz to 2 GHz and respond to the change in glucose concentration with a sensitivity of 0.17 MHz/(mg/dL). The embroidered IDT-based sensors with wireless sensing will be a new measurement modality for molecular wearable sensors. The establishment of a wireless sensing mechanism for embroidered IDT-based sensors will be followed by an investigation of sweat for molecular detection. This will require adding functionalities for sampling and interpretation of acquired data. We envisage the embroidered IDT-based sensors offer a unique approach for seamless integration into clothing, paving the way for personalised, continuous health data capture.