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Towards a wearable format for transducing responsive swelling in hydrogels

Singh, Rinki orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-3857-6585, Thirumalai, Dinakaran orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-9005-5990, Levingstone, Tanya J. orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-9751-2314 and Morrin, Aoife orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-3031-4794 (2026) Towards a wearable format for transducing responsive swelling in hydrogels. Materials Advances, 7 . ISSN 2633-5409

Abstract
Responsive hydrogels offer significant promise for wearable biochemical sensing owing to their tuneable chemistries and biocompatible, tissue-like properties. In this study, we demonstrate an impedance configuration as a potentially wearable transduction approach for monitoring swelling dynamics in planar poly(acrylic acid-co-N,N0-methylene-bis-acrylamide) (PAAc-co-MBA) hydrogel films. Using surface-mounted gold contact pins, we extract a localised gel resistance parameter (Rgel) that was correlated directly with gravimetric swelling measurements, and was shown to provide a quantitative measure of swelling-induced changes. Impedance-based measurements exhibited superior sensitivity compared to the gravimetric measurements, attributed to localised interrogation of hydrogel regions near the electrode interface where equilibration occurs rapidly. The apparent pKa of the hydrogel, determined from impedance-monitored pH titrations, was measured as 4.1, within 0.4 pH units of the theoretical PAAc value. Systematic optimisation of starting oxidant concentrations revealed that formulations with lower oxidant content achieved optimal mechanical properties suitable for applying to tissue, demonstrating excellent skin adhesion (4350 flexion cycles) whilst maintaining requisite flexibility for conformal wearable applications. To validate tissue interfacing capabilities, hydrogel films were applied to exposed kiwi fruit tissue (pH B 4.0), where the impedance response reflected hydrogen ion diffusion from the tissue into the hydrogel (neutral pH). Concurrent pH mapping and dimensional analysis confirmed ion transport across the tissue-hydrogel interface, demonstrating the material’s capacity for real-time monitoring of soft biointerfaces. These findings establish simplified impedance-transduced PAAc-co-MBA hydrogels as promising platforms for next-generation wearable sensors, offering the potential of quantitative, non-invasive monitoring of tissue pH with direct applicability to wearable health monitoring technologies.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Subjects:Biological Sciences > Biosensors
Humanities > Biological Sciences > Biosensors
Engineering > Materials
Medical Sciences > Health
Physical Sciences > Analytical chemistry
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Chemical Sciences
Publisher:Royal Society of Chemistry
Official URL:https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/ma...
Copyright Information:Authors
Funders:Irish Research Council for the Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship, European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant
ID Code:32909
Deposited On:24 Jun 2026 08:43 by Dinakaran Thirumalai . Last Modified 24 Jun 2026 08:43
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