Key Takeaways & Executive Findings
- •• • Cellulose-based Janus fabrics demonstrate switchable liquid transportation for personal moisture and thermal management, with directional water/moisture transport enabling integrated personal cooling (Ref. 112, 114). • • Sodium alginate ionic hydrogel fibers exhibit stretchability and sensitivity suitable for flexible strain sensors, with performance metrics indicating high gauge factors and elongation at break (Ref. 117). • • Bacterial cellulose-based piezoelectric macrofibers, crystallized with imidazole perchlorate, offer biodegradability and recyclability for mechanical sensing fabrics, achieving piezoelectric coefficients comparable to conventional polymers (Ref. 119). • • Starch-containing biopolyamide composites function as heat-induced actuator fibers for functional textiles, demonstrating reversible actuation strains under thermal stimuli (Ref. 111).
Abstract
The escalating demand for intelligent and functional textiles, driven by technological advancements, has shifted focus from conventional attributes like warmth and aesthetics to smart functionalities. Natural biomass-derived polysaccharides, owing to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, renewability, and unique chemical structures, are pivotal for next-generation flexible wearable smart textiles. This review systematically outlines common natural polysaccharides (e.g., cellulose, chitosan, starch, alginate) used in such textiles, detailing their structural features and modification strategies. It critically evaluates current fabrication methods, highlighting their advantages and limitations. The performance characteristics, action mechanisms, and application scenarios of polysaccharide-based smart textiles are examined, with emphasis on healthcare, motion tracking, smart clothing, and energy storage/management. The review concludes by addressing existing challenges and proposing future directions for integrating polysaccharide materials into smart textile systems, aiming to guide the development of efficient, green flexible wearable devices.
1. Introduction
Conventional flexible wearable smart textiles, typically integrating rigid electronic components with fabrics, suffer from inherent trade-offs: poor breathability, discomfort during prolonged wear, and mechanical mismatch with human skin. These limitations arise from the fundamental incompatibility between stiff, brittle electronic materials and the soft, dynamic nature of textiles. For instance, metal-based conductive coatings crack under repeated deformation, while polymer-based sensors often exhibit hysteresis and drift, compromising signal fidelity. Moreover, the reliance on non-renewable, non-biodegradable substrates raises environmental concerns, hindering sustainable adoption in healthcare and consumer electronics.
Natural biomass-derived polysaccharides offer a compelling alternative. Their intrinsic flexibility, hydrophilicity, and chemical functionality enable seamless integration into textile architectures via solution processing or surface modification. For example, cellulose and chitosan can be regenerated into fibers with high tensile strength and tunable conductivity when blended with conductive polymers or carbon nanomaterials. This review systematically evaluates the structural features, modification routes, and fabrication techniques for polysaccharide-based smart textiles, providing a critical assessment of their performance metrics—such as sensing sensitivity, actuation strain, and energy storage capacity—against conventional counterparts. By addressing scalability and durability challenges, these materials promise to bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and commercial wearable systems.
Loading authentic research manuscript (Pages 1–5)...
DANG Xugang, FEI Yufei, WANG Xuechuan, WANG Haijun (2026). Natural Biomass-Derived Polysaccharide Materials for Flexible Wearable Smart Textiles. SCIENCE CHINA Materials. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-025-3738-1
Research & Educational Purpose Only: The translations, structured abstracts, analytical annotations, and data reports provided by SinoGreenTechare intended exclusively for academic research, internal corporate R&D, and educational benchmarking. They do not constitute formal engineering, chemical safety, legal, or professional advice.
Copyright & Intellectual Property Notice: Original copyright of the underlying source articles and experimental data remains with the respective authors, institutions, and original publishing journals. SinoGreenTech claims intellectual property only over its proprietary translations, analytical syntheses, and AEO structured enhancements in accordance with international fair use and academic citation principles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the primary failure mechanisms of polysaccharide-based conductive fibers under repeated mechanical stress, and how do they compare to synthetic polymer counterparts?
Polysaccharide-based fibers, such as those from cellulose or alginate, often exhibit brittle fracture due to hydrogen bonding networks and limited chain mobility. Under cyclic strain, microcracks propagate, leading to increased electrical resistance and eventual failure. For instance, sodium alginate ionic hydrogel fibers (Ref. 117) show high stretchability but may suffer from ionic leakage and dehydration over time. In contrast, synthetic elastomers like polyurethane offer better fatigue resistance but lack biodegradability. The trade-off between mechanical robustness and environmental sustainability remains a key challenge.
How do the fabrication methods for polysaccharide-based smart textiles, such as wet spinning or electrospinning, influence scalability and cost-effectiveness for industrial production?
Wet spinning is widely used for producing continuous polysaccharide fibers (e.g., alginate, cellulose) due to its simplicity and high throughput. However, it requires coagulation baths and post-treatment steps, increasing water and chemical usage. Electrospinning offers nanoscale fiber diameters but has lower productivity and higher voltage requirements. For industrial scale-up, wet spinning is more viable, but cost parity with conventional textiles is hindered by raw material purification and solvent recovery. Recent advances in dry-jet wet spinning and melt processing of thermoplastic polysaccharides (e.g., starch blends) aim to reduce costs.
What are the specific performance metrics (e.g., sensitivity, response time) of polysaccharide-based strain sensors, and how do they compare to commercial metal strain gauges?
Polysaccharide-based strain sensors, such as those using sodium alginate ionic hydrogels (Ref. 117), exhibit gauge factors (GF) ranging from 2 to 10, with response times below 100 ms. In contrast, commercial metal foil strain gauges have GFs around 2 but are rigid and limited to small strains (<5%). Polysaccharide sensors can stretch up to 500% strain, making them suitable for human motion detection. However, their long-term stability and hysteresis under dynamic loading require improvement.
How do polysaccharide-based energy storage devices (e.g., supercapacitors) achieve areal capacitance and cycling stability compared to carbon-based conventional devices?
Polysaccharide-derived carbon aerogels or conductive composites have demonstrated areal capacitances of 200-500 mF/cm², with capacitance retention above 90% after 10,000 cycles. For instance, cellulose-based carbon nanofibers doped with heteroatoms achieve high specific capacitance (300 F/g) in aqueous electrolytes. However, their energy density is lower than organic electrolyte systems. The challenge lies in balancing porosity and conductivity while maintaining mechanical flexibility.
What are the key barriers to achieving washability and long-term durability in polysaccharide-based smart textiles, and what strategies are proposed?
Polysaccharide fibers are prone to swelling and degradation in aqueous environments, leading to loss of electrical conductivity and mechanical integrity. Encapsulation with hydrophobic polymers or crosslinking with agents like citric acid can improve water resistance. For example, MXene-induced conductive silk fibers (Ref. 108) show enhanced washability due to strong interfacial bonding. However, repeated washing cycles (>20) still cause performance degradation. Developing self-healing or reversible crosslinking mechanisms is a promising direction.
Related Chinese Research & Cross-Citations
Ammonium Vanadate Cathodes in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries: Design Strategies and Research Progress
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) offer a compelling combination of high safety, environmental compatibility, and abundant zinc resources, positioning them as viable candidates for grid-scale energy storage. Their practical deployment, however, is constrained by cathode materials that suffer from structural degradation, sluggish Zn2+ diffusion, and inadequate electronic conductivity. Ammonium vanadates (AVOs) have emerged as high-performance cathodes owing to their layered or tunneled frameworks, which accommodate reversible Zn2+ (de)intercalation with diffusion coefficients superior to conventional vanadium oxides. This review systematically examines recent advances in AVO cathodes for AZIBs, correlating morphological variations—including nanowires, nanobelts, and microflowers—with electrochemical characteristics. The analysis establishes structure–performance relationships that govern capacity retention, rate capability, and cycling stability. Key optimization strategies are critically assessed: defect engineering to enhance electronic conductivity and active site density, interlayer spacing modulation via pre-intercalated cations or structural water to facilitate Zn2+ transport, and composite construction with conductive carbonaceous or polymeric matrices to mitigate dissolution and improve mechanical integrity. Despite these advances, challenges persist in achieving long-term cycling stability (>10,000 cycles) and high areal mass loading (>10 mg cm-2) required for commercial viability. The review concludes by outlining future research directions, including operando characterization of degradation mechanisms and scalable synthesis routes for AVO cathodes in practical AZIB configurations.
Microenvironment-responsive therapeutic platforms: Innovations for spinal cord injury repair
Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a formidable clinical challenge due to the complex, dynamic lesion microenvironment that impedes axonal regeneration and functional recovery. This highlight examines a microenvironment-responsive therapeutic platform integrating microneedle delivery, ferroptosis modulation, and hydrogen therapy. The platform leverages the pathological hallmarks of SCI—oxidative stress, iron dyshomeostasis, and lipid peroxidation—to achieve spatiotemporally controlled cargo release. By combining microneedle arrays for minimally invasive intraparenchymal administration with hydrogen-releasing biomaterials, the system addresses the dual bottlenecks of poor drug penetration across the blood-spinal cord barrier and insufficient neutralization of reactive oxygen species. Ferroptosis inhibition is achieved through iron chelation and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) stabilization, while hydrogen gas scavenges hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite. This multimodal strategy attenuates secondary injury cascades, reduces glial scar formation, and promotes neural stem cell differentiation. The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82574518) and the Talent Cultivation Project of Paring Academicians with Young Talents in higher education institutions in Zhejiang. The authors declare no conflict of interest. This highlight underscores the translational potential of microenvironment-responsive platforms for SCI repair, emphasizing the need for rigorous preclinical validation and scalable manufacturing.
Dual-Site Adsorption over Phosphorus-Doped Copper Oxide for Efficient CO2 Electroreduction to Ethylene
Electroreduction of CO2 to ethylene offers a promising route for renewable electricity storage, yet achieving high ethylene selectivity at industrial current densities remains challenging due to the large energy barrier for C–C coupling. Here, we report a “MOF-assisted in situ doping” strategy to introduce the oxophilic nonmetal phosphorus (P) into the copper oxide (CuO) lattice, constructing a localized Cu–P dual-site adsorption configuration for the key *OCCHO intermediate. The optimized catalyst delivers an impressive Faradaic efficiency of 64.6% for ethylene with a partial current density of 646 mA cm-2. Comprehensive structural characterizations demonstrate that P mainly occupies Cu sites, generating abundant lattice defects and oxygen vacancies. In situ synchrotron infrared spectroscopy and theoretical calculations reveal that P doping modulates the electronic structure of Cu, optimizes the binding energies of *CO and *CHO, and stabilizes *OCCHO via P–O/Cu–C dual-site adsorption, thereby significantly lowering the asymmetric C-C coupling energy barrier to 0.74 eV. This work highlights a dual-site microenvironment regulation strategy for CO2-to-ethylene electroreduction.
Hydrophilic Single-Atom Interface Unlocks Low-Potential CO Removal on Pt in PEMFCs
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) fed with reformate hydrogen suffer severe anode poisoning by trace CO, necessitating high CO electrooxidation potentials that degrade performance and durability. This work introduces a Pt@CrSA-N-C anode catalyst featuring a hydrophilic Cr single-atom interface that simultaneously weakens CO adsorption on Pt via electronic regulation and promotes water activation, thereby lowering the CO oxidation onset potential to approximately 0.13 V vs. RHE. The onset potential was determined by two independent methods: the first potential at which the background-corrected current exceeds 0 mA cm-2 during CO oxidation reaction tests in a three-electrode system, and the potential at which the forward scan current exceeds the N2 background current in CO-stripping voltammetry. The catalyst achieves a maximum power density under 100 ppm CO that surpasses reported advanced catalysts, as compiled in Table S5. Structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical characterizations collectively establish a coherent rationale for the hydrophilic single-atom interface strategy. This approach addresses the longstanding trade-off between CO tolerance and Pt utilization, offering a viable route for low-potential CO removal in practical PEMFC anodes.
An Ionoelastomer-Based Bioinspired Wearable Electronics with Tele-Perception and Tactile Sensation for Machine Learning-Assisted Rehabilitation Management
Comprehensive assessment of rehabilitation efficiency is essential for designing appropriate training programs for better musculoskeletal functional recovery. Existing contact-receptor-dependent rehabilitation assessment systems mostly focus on assessing the restoration of muscle function by evaluating grip strength or joint flexion angle; however, parameters reflecting neuromuscular synergistic function are always overlooked. Herein, we develop an ionoelastomer-based soft artificial electroreceptor (SAER) that integrates tele-perception and tactile sensation to track the rehabilitation process, collecting signals related to approaching speed and grip strength sequentially. The SAER uses polyurethane ionoelastomer incorporated with quasi-solid conductive salt as the electric field receptor, and is integrated on a rehabilitation-training ball after assembly to establish an untethered detection device; this enables the remote capture of hand approaching parameter within a 9 cm range, followed by the quantification of grip strength when contacting and grasping. Furthermore, a data-driven assessment system is established by integrating machine learning, which accurately classifies rehabilitation efficiency into six levels; it supports for rehabilitation evaluation and training programs adjustment. Overall, the SAER-based rehabilitation management system establishes a paradigm that synergistically evaluating parameters corresponding to neuromuscular functional restoration and holds strong potential for home-based active rehabilitation for minimizing dependence on frequent clinical supervision.
Microwave-Absorbing Materials with Strong Environmental Adaptability for Corrosion Protection, Anti-Icing, and Thermal Management
Microwave-absorbing materials (MAMs) deployed on naval vessels, aerospace vehicles, and critical electronic systems face coupled electromagnetic, marine salt-spray corrosion, and extreme-temperature loads that legacy single-function absorbers cannot withstand. This review consolidates progress on three environmentally adaptive MAM classes: corrosion-protective, anti-icing, and thermal-management absorbers. The electromagnetic loss and impedance-matching fundamentals are first established, then the synergistic mechanisms, design strategies, and characterization protocols for each class are examined against representative material systems and their measured performance. The analysis identifies a shared design logic—multiscale hierarchical architecture, interfacial polarization engineering, and multifunctional phase integration—while distinguishing the divergent protection mechanisms: barrier and passivation effects for corrosion, surface-energy and latent-heat regulation for anti-icing, and phonon–electron transport decoupling for thermal management. Persistent bottlenecks include the trade-off between impedance matching and protective-layer density, the absence of standardized coupled-field test protocols, and the scarcity of long-term salt-spray and thermal-cycling durability data. Future directions are delineated: intelligent self-adaptive absorbers, multiphysics-coupled simulation frameworks, and environmentally benign multifunctional integration. The review provides a theoretical and technical basis for the design, construction, and engineering scale-up of next-generation high-performance absorbers for aerospace, electronic, and marine equipment.