Lightweight, Superelastic, and Hydrophobic Polyimide Nanofiber /MXene Composite Aerogel for Wearable Piezoresistive Sensor and Oil/Water Separation Applications

Inspired by the ultralight and structurally robust spider webs, flexible nanofibril-assembled aerogels with intriguing attributes have been designed for achieving promising performances in various applications. Here, conductive polyimide nanofiber (PINF)/MXene composite aerogel with typical “layer-strut” bracing hierarchical nanofibrous cellular structure has been developed via the freeze-drying and thermal imidization process. Benefiting from the porous architecture and robust bonding between PINF and MXene, the PINF/MXene composite aerogel exhibits an ultralow density (9.98 mg cm⁻³), intriguing temperature tolerance from -50 to 250 °C, superior compressibility and recoverability (up to 90% strain), and excellent fatigue resistance over 1000 cycles. The composite aerogel can be used as a piezoresistive sensor, with an outstanding sensing capacity up to 90% strain (corresponding 85.21 kPa), ultralow detection limit of 0.5% strain (corresponding 0.01 kPa), robust fatigue resistance over 1000 cycles, excellent piezoresistive stability and reproductivity in extremely harsh environments. Furthermore, the composite aerogel also exhibits superior oil/water separation properties such as high adsorption capacity (55.85 to 135.29 g g⁻¹) and stable recyclability due to its hydrophobicity and robust hierarchical porous structure. It is expected that the designed PINF/MXene composite aerogel can supply a new multifunctional platform for human bodily motion/physical signals detection and high-efficient oil/water separation.