Bio‐templated Piezoresistive Yarn for High Sensitivity Movement Monitoring Textiles

ABSTRACT Movement‐sensing textiles are crucial for advancing wearable technology, providing solutions for real‐time human motion monitoring. Textile‐integrated piezoresistive sensors often struggle with balancing sensitivity and mechanical stability, alongside sustainability concerns regarding the use of traditional fossil‐based materials like polyurethane and polydimethylsiloxane, commonly employed in sensor fabrication. Our study introduces bio‐derived co‐polyamide‐starch (CoPA‐SS) yarns as the substrate for piezoresistive sensors, leveraging the yarn's shape memory properties and reactive surface for further chemical modification essential for sensor development. Potato virus A (PV) particles serve as biological templates for creating a uniform silver nanoparticle (AgNP) coating, forming a piezoresistive network that enables long‐range conductivity with minimal hysteresis. This network is covalently attached to the reactive surface of CoPA‐SS yarns, enhancing sensor stability. These sensors exhibit linear stress–strain behavior across a 0–50% strain range, a gauge factor exceeding 400 at 10% strain, a fast response time of 150 ms, and stability over extensive cycling, including up to 7000 cycles at 50% strain. We also demonstrate sensor textile integration, allowing flexible and repeatable sensor placement without compromising textile integrity. Our pioneering approach of bio‐templating AgNPs on PV particles positions this sensor among the highest‐performing biobased sensors reported, paving the way for future high‐performance wearable electronics.