Ultrafast Humidity Sensing by Anisotropic Deformation of Carbon Nitride Nanoribbons for Real-Time Respiratory Monitoring

Developing humidity sensing materials with fast response and high sensitivity was of great interest for many applications from industrial field to human healthcare. Here, we report a carbon nitride nanoribbons (CNNRs)-based humidity sensor. Thanks to the delicate humidity-responsive anisotropic deformation and well-balanced hydrophilic surfaces/hydrophobic framework with rapid adsorption/desorption of water molecules by CNNRs, this humidity sensor possessed an ultrafast response of ca. 50 ms, high reproducibility and selectivity, and linearity in an almost full humidity range. As an example, this sensor was successfully applied to real-time breathing detection, and the as-obtained breathing graphic waveforms exhibited a higher sensitivity than that by the traditional clinic measurements. This work would pave a new way for ultrafast and sensitive humidity sensing by using anisotropic deformation of CNNRs and introduce a new application scheme of humidity sensors in more user-friendly respiratory monitoring with higher resolution.