journal article·2025-11Open access

Photonic Annealing of Inkjet Printed Graphene for Stretchable Wearable Healthcare Monitoring Devices

Charles E. D. Heaton, Jonathan S. Austin, Leo Ruer, Nathan D. Cottam, Feiran Wang, Yinfeng He, Graham A. Rance, Felicity R. A. J. Rose, Ricky D. Wildman, Richard J. M. Hague, Oleg Makarovsky, Lyudmila Turyanska

Advanced Materials Technologies· Volume 10· Issue 21

Abstract

Abstract Inkjet‐printing of graphene (iGr) onto flexible and stretchable electronics has significant potential for environmental sensing and healthcare monitoring applications. However, conventional thermal annealing techniques often require high temperatures that are incompatible with polymeric and fabric substrates. In this work, an in situ photonic annealing protocol with a compact intense pulsed light (IPL) system is developed to achieve conductive iGr films on flexible temperature sensitive substrates. Raman spectroscopy confirms enhanced iGr structural ordering and the decomposition of ink residues, leading to a sheet resistance of ≈430 Ω sq −1 . The fabricated films exhibit stable electrical properties under mechanical deformation, maintaining performance under up to 30% elongation, with a temperature sensitivity reaching ≈0.096%°C⁻¹, comparable with that of commercial platinum‐based sensor Pt100. Furthermore, the IPL‐processed iGr films demonstrate acetone vapor sensing at physiologically‐relevant concentrations down to 0.2 ppm, highlighting their potential for healthcare sensing and monitoring. The results establish IPL as a rapid, scalable post‐processing technique for iGr, enabling its application in the next‐generation wearable and stretchable electronics.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Graphene research and applications · Molecular Communication and Nanonetworks

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

Affiliations

Centre for Additive Manufacturing Faculty of Engineering University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus Nottingham NG8 1BB UK

School of Physics and Astronomy University of Nottingham Nottingham NG7 2RD UK

Nanoscale and Microscale Research Centre (nmRC) University of Nottingham University Park Nottingham NG7 2RD UK

School of Pharmacy University of Nottingham Nottingham NG7 2RD UK

Funding

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

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