A dam-inspired textile patch with layer-by-layer isovolumetric water transport for sweat loss monitoring

Abstract

Monitoring sweat loss is an effective method for evaluating dehydration during body thermoregulation. However, current wearable microfluidic sweat sensors often face limitations in terms of breathability and heat dissipation, and textile-based sweat sensors cannot achieve the accurate control and detection of sweat volume. Herein, we report a textile patch with an unprecedented layer-by-layer isovolumetric water transport (IVWT) ability for sweat loss monitoring. The patch features an all-porous laminated fabric with multiple IVWT units and conductive nonwoven fabric sensing units, enabling controllable and quantitative sweat penetration similar to dam-transporting ships. Each layer of the IVWT unit could accurately and stably transport 6.29 ± 0.10 μL of sweat across all tests. This design allows the identification of sweat volume by increasing stepwise jumps in the conductance signals. The dam-inspired textile patch not only provides sweat volume measurements that are highly consistent with those obtained using the absorbent pad method but also offers superior air permeability (~98% of the clothing), excellent heat dissipation (~79% of the uncovered skin), and excellent compatibility, which facilitates seamless integration into various types of wearable garments. A fully integrated wireless transmission device with the textile patch provided a validated predictive model for estimating whole-body sweat loss during dehydration monitoring.

Keywords

isovolumetric water transport / laminated sensing units / sweat loss / sweat volume / textile-based sweat patch

References

[1] Yamada Y, Zhang X, Henderson MET, et al. Variation in human water turnover associated with environmental and lifestyle factors. Science. 2022; 378(6622): 909-915.

[2] Davis N, Heikenfeld J, Milla C, Javey A. The challenges and promise of sweat sensing. Nat Biotechnol. 2024; 42(6):1.

[3] Zhong BW, Jiang K, Wang LL, Shen GZ. Wearable sweat loss measuring devices: from the role of sweat loss to advanced mechanisms and designs. Adv Sci. 2022; 9(1):2103257.

[4] Ji W, Liu H, Liu Y, et al. Large-scale fully printed “Lego Bricks” type wearable sweat sensor for physical activity monitoring. NPJ Flexible Electron. 2023; 7(1):53.

[5] Zhong BW, Qin XK, Xu H, et al. Interindividual- and blood-correlated sweat phenylalanine multimodal analytical biochips for tracking exercise metabolism. Nat Commun. 2024; 15(1): 624.

[6] Zhao P, Zhu N, Chong D, Hou Y. Developing a new heat strain evaluation index to classify and predict human thermal risk in hot and humid environments. Sustain Cities Soc. 2022; 76:103440.

[7] Watanabe H, Kadokura Y, Sugi T, Saito K, Nagashima K. Influence of sustained mild dehydration on thermoregulatory and cognitive functions during prolonged moderate exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2024; 124(11): 3457-3470.

[8] Yang H, Ding H, Wei W, et al. Skin-interfaced microfluidic sweat collection devices for personalized hydration management through thermal feedback. Lab Chip. 2024; 24(2): 356-366.

[9] Coull NA, West AM, Hodder SG, Wheeler P, Havenith G. Body mapping of regional sweat distribution in young and older males. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2020; 121(1): 109.

[10] Reeder JT, Xue YG, Franklin D, et al. Resettable skin interfaced microfluidic sweat collection devices with chemesthetic hydration feedback. Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1):5513.

[11] Wang B, Wei X, Zhao X, Wang W, Deng J, Yang H. A review on in vivo research dehydration models and application of rehydration strategies. Nutrients. 2024; 16(20):3566.

[12] Kavouras SA. Assessing hydration status. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2002; 5(5): 519-524.

[13] Brasier N, Wang J, Gao W, et al. Applied body-fluid analysis by wearable devices. Nature. 2024; 636(8041): 57-68.

[14] Oppliger RA, Bartok C. Hydration testing of athletes. Sports Med. 2002; 32(15): 959-971.

[15] Doherty CS, Fortington LV, Barley OR. Blood, sweat, and tears: implications for hydration testing in combat sports-investigating body mass loss and biomarker changes. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2024; 34(8):e14701.

[16] Baker LB, De Chavez PJD, Ungaro CT, et al. Exercise intensity effects on total sweat electrolyte losses and regional vs. whole-body sweat [Na⁺], [Cl⁻], and [K⁺]. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2018; 119(2): 361-375.

[17] Baker LB, Model JB, Barnes KA, et al. Skin-interfaced microfluidic system with personalized sweating rate and sweat chloride analytics for sports science applications. Sci Adv. 2020; 6(50):eabe3929.

[18] Zhao FJ, Bonmarin M, Chen ZC, et al. Ultra-simple wearable local sweat volume monitoring patch based on swellable hydrogels. Lab Chip. 2020; 20(1): 168-174.

[19] Yang DS, Ghaffari R, Rogers JA. Sweat as a diagnostic biofluid. Science. 2023; 379(6634): 760-761.

[20] Min JH, Tu JB, Xu CH, et al. Skin-interfaced wearable sweat sensors for precision medicine. Chem Rev. 2023; 123(8): 5049-5138.

[21] Yang YR, Song Y, Bo XJ, et al. A laser-engraved wearable sensor for sensitive detection of uric acid and tyrosine in sweat. Nat Biotechnol. 2020; 38(2): 217-224.

[22] Ding H, Yang H, Tsujimura S. Nature-inspired superhydrophilic biosponge as structural beneficial platform for sweating analysis patch. Adv Sci. 2024; 11(30):2401947.

[23] Nyein HYY, Bariya M, Tran B, et al. A wearable patch for continuous analysis of thermoregulatory sweat at rest. Nat Commun. 2021; 12(1): 1823.

[24] Wang S, Liu M, Yang X, et al. An unconventional vertical fluidic-controlled wearable platform for synchronously detecting sweat rate and electrolyte concentration. Biosens Bioelectron. 2022; 210:114351.

[25] Liu SLZ, Yang D, Wang ST, et al. Soft, environmentally degradable microfluidic devices for measurement of sweat rate and total sweat loss and for colorimetric analysis of sweat biomarkers. Ecomat. 2023; 5(1):e12270.

[26] Luo YF, Abidian MR, Ahn JH, et al. Technology roadmap for flexible sensors. ACS Nano. 2023; 17(6): 5211-5295.

[27] Zhang B, Li J, Zhou J, et al. A three-dimensional liquid diode for soft, integrated permeable electronics. Nature. 2024; 628(8006): 84-92.

[28] Reeder JT, Choi J, Xue YG, et al. Waterproof, electronics-enabled, epidermal microfluidic devices for sweat collection, biomarker analysis, and thermography in aquatic settings. Sci Adv. 2019; 5(1):eaau6356.

[29] Yuan Z, Hou L, Bariya M, et al. A multi-modal sweat sensing patch for cross-verification of sweat rate, total ionic charge, and Na⁺ concentration. Lab Chip. 2019; 19(19): 3179-3189.

[30] Liu M, Wang S, Xiong Z, et al. Perspiration permeable, textile embeddable microfluidic sweat sensor. Biosens Bioelectron. 2023; 237:115504.

[31] Choi J, Xue YG, Xia W, et al. Soft, skin-mounted microfluidic systems for measuring secretory fluidic pressures generated at the surface of the skin by eccrine sweat glands. Lab Chip. 2017; 17(15): 2572-2580.

[32] Wu Y, Li X, He P, et al. Sweat-permeable, microbiota-preserving, mechanically antibacterial patch for long-term interfacing with perspiring skin. Adv Funct Mater. 2025; 35(9):2416129.

[33] Zhang Q, Wang M, Chen T, et al. Sweat gland-like fabric for personal thermal-wet comfort management. Adv Funct Mater. 2024; 2409807.

[34] Gao Q, Agarwal S, Greiner A, Zhang T. Electrospun fiber-based flexible electronics: fiber fabrication, device platform, functionality integration and applications. Prog Mater Sci. 2023; 137:101139.

[35] Dai Y, Sun D, O'Rourke D, Velusamy S, Sundaram S, Edirisinghe M. Harnessing cow manure waste for nanocellulose extraction and sustainable small-structure manufacturing. J Clean Prod. 2025; 509:145530.

[36] Dai Y, Sun D, Sundaram S, et al. Facile synthesis: from Laminaria hyperborea to cellulose films and fibers. Cellul. 2024; 31(1): 205.

[37] Sun YP, Wang JH, Lu QY, et al. Stretchable and smart wettable sensing patch with guided liquid flow for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis. ACS Nano. 2024; 18(3): 2335-2345.

[38] Luo D, Sun HB, Li QQ, Niu X, He Y, Liu H. Flexible sweat sensors: from films to textiles. ACS Sens. 2023; 8(2): 465-481.

[39] Ursem RFR, Steijlen A, Parrilla M, Bastemeijer J, Bossche A, De Wael KJLC. Worth your sweat: wearable microfluidic flow rate sensors for meaningful sweat analytics. Lab Chip. 2025; 25(5): 1296-1315.

[40] Liu M, Liu S, Zhang T, et al. Adaptively resettable microfluidic patch for sweat rate and electrolytes detection. Biosens Bioelectron. 2024; 257:116299.

[41] Miao D, Wang X, Yu J, Ding B. A biomimetic transpiration textile for highly efficient personal drying and cooling. Adv Funct Mater. 2021; 31(14):2008705.

[42] Dai B, Li K, Shi L, et al. Bioinspired janus textile with conical micropores for human body moisture and thermal management. Adv Mater. 2019; 31(41):e1904113.

[43] Chen J, Mai J, Wang C, et al. Biomimetic aligned micro−/nanofibrous composite membranes with ultrafast water transport and evaporation for efficient indoor humidification. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022; 14(1): 1983-1993.

[44] Yang X, Wang S, Liu M, et al. All-nanofiber-based janus epidermal electrode with directional sweat permeability for artifact-free biopotential monitoring. Small. 2022; 18(12):e2106477.

[45] Huang QY, Zheng ZJ. Pathway to developing permeable electronics. ACS Nano. 2022; 16(10): 15537-15544.

[46] Hsu P-C, Song AY, Catrysse PB, et al. Radiative human body cooling by nanoporous polyethylene textile. Science. 2016; 353(6303): 1019-1023.

[47] Baker LB, Seib MS, Barnes KA, et al. Skin-interfaced microfluidic system with machine learning-enabled image processing of sweat biomarkers in remote settings. Adv Mater Technol. 2022; 7(11):2200249.

[48] Baker LB, Ungaro CT, Sopeña BC, et al. Body map of regional vs. whole body sweating rate and sweat electrolyte concentrations in men and women during moderate exercise-heat stress. J Appl Physiol. 2018; 124(5): 1304.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2026 The Author(s). InfoMat published by UESTC and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.