Hydrogel‐Based Self‐Powered, Oxygen‐Resistant, and Flexible Sensors for Ultrasensitive and Selective NO ₂ Detection

Qiongling Ding; Yibing Luo; Wenxiong Shi; Hao Wang; Jianye Li; Yubin Zhou; Xiaobo Zhu; Dijie Yao; Zixuan Wu; Kai Tao; Fei Liu; Pengcheng Xu; Hu Long; Pengbo Wan; Fengwei Huo; Jin Wu

doi:10.1002/adfm.202512817

journal article·2026-01

Hydrogel‐Based Self‐Powered, Oxygen‐Resistant, and Flexible Sensors for Ultrasensitive and Selective NO ₂ Detection

Qiongling Ding, Yibing Luo, Wenxiong Shi, Hao Wang, Jianye Li, Yubin Zhou, Xiaobo Zhu, Dijie Yao, Zixuan Wu, Kai Tao, Fei Liu, Pengcheng Xu, Hu Long, Pengbo Wan, Fengwei Huo, Jin Wu

Advanced Functional Materials· Volume 36· Issue 2

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Source abstract

Abstract

Abstract Flexible nitrogen dioxide (NO ₂ ) sensors hold great promise for timely protection of both the environment and human health. However, current NO ₂ sensing technologies face the dilemma of substantial power consumption, susceptibility to oxygen interference, and insufficient wearing comfort, seriously hindering their practical applications. Herein, a self‐powered, oxygen‐resistant, and flexible NO ₂ sensor with a cell structure is proposed based on dense polyacrylamide‐calcium alginate hydrogel network and a heterogeneous metal electrode pair with similar electrode potentials. The resulting NO ₂ sensor exhibits an ultrahigh sensitivity of 307.17% per ppm, an ultra‐low detection limit of 2.86 ppb, and high selectivity relative to the strongest interfering gas (oxygen), originating from the tiny electromotive force provided by this self‐powered sensor exclusively driving the reduction of NO ₂ . The superior NO ₂ sensing performance of the sensor is synergistically attributed to the catalysis of the NO ₂ reduction reaction by the employed Ag electrodes and the inhibition of NO ₂ solubilization by the dense hydrogel networks. The incorporation of glycerol into the hydrogel further enhances the environmental tolerance and stability of the device. Thanks to these, remote and real‐time alarms for trace NO ₂ leaks are implemented in both aerobic and anaerobic environments by connecting the developed sensor to a self‐designed wireless sensing system.

Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

Polymers Catalysis & surfaces

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Gas Sensing Nanomaterials and Sensors · Analytical Chemistry and Sensors

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies and the Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Display Material and Technology School of Electronics and Information Technology Sun Yat‐sen University Guangzhou 510275 China

State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology Shanghai 200050 P. R. China

State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing Equipment and Technology Wuhan 430074 China

Institute for New Energy Materials and Low Carbon Technologies School of Materials Science and Engineering Tianjin University of Technology Tianjin 300384 China

Dongguan Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Biosensing Research and Development School of Pharmacy and Dongguan Innovation Institute Guangdong Medical University Dongguan 523808 China

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Marine Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo 315201 China

Research Center of Flexible Sensing Materials and Devices School of Applied Physics and Materials Wuyi University Jiangmen 529020 China

The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Systems for Aerospace School of Mechanical Engineering Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an 710072 P. R. China

College of Materials Science and Engineering State Key Laboratory of Organic‐Inorganic Composites Beijing University of Chemical Technology Beijing 100029 China

State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (LoFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM) School of Flexible Electronics (Future Technologies) Nanjing Tech University (Nanjing Tech) Nanjing 211816 China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · National Basic Research Program of China

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