Conducting polymer-reinforced laser-irradiated graphene as a heterostructured 3D transducer for flexible skin patch biosensors

Flexible skin patch biosensors are promising for the noninvasive determination of physiological parameters in perspiration for fitness and health monitoring. However, various prerequisites need to be met for the development of such biosensors, including the creation of a flexible conductive platform, bending/contact stability, fast electrochemical kinetics, and immobilization of biomolecules. Here, we describe a conducting polymer-reinforced laser-irradiated graphene (LIG) network as a heterostructured three-dimensional (3D) transducer for flexible skin patch biosensors. LIG with a hierarchically interconnected graphene structure is geometrically patterned on polyimide via localized laser irradiation as a flexible conductive platform, which is then reinforced by poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as a conductive binder (PEDOT/LIG) with improved structural/contact stability and electrochemical kinetics. The interconnected pores of the reinforced PEDOT/LIG function as a 3D host matrix for high loading of “artificial” (Prussian blue, PB) and natural enzymes (lactate oxidase, LOx), forming a compact and heterostructured 3D transducer (LOx/PB-PEDOT/LIG) for lactate biosensing with excellent sensitivity (11.83 μA mM–1). We demonstrated the fabrication of flexible skin patch biosensors comprising a custom-built integrated three-electrode system achieve amperometric detection of lactate in artificial sweat over a wide physiological linear range of 0–18 mM. The advantage of this facile and versatile transducer is further illustrated by the development of a folded 3D wristband lactate biosensor and a dual channel biosensors for simultaneous monitoring of lactate and glucose. This innovative design concept of a heterostructured transducer for flexible biosensors combined with a versatile fabrication approach could potentially drive the development of new wearable and skin-mountable biosensors for monitoring various physiological parameters in biofluids for noninvasive fitness and health management.