###### Abstract  
Electrically conductive hydrogel materials can be used as materials for wearable sensors, which can quickly and accurately detect the activities of human joints and convert these movements into electrical signals. More specifically, they have potential for application in wearable electronic devices and electronic skins. However, a number of challenges remain regarding the preparation of conductive hydrogel materials. In this study, we synthesized the P(BHMP-AM)-Zn\({}^{2+}\) hydrogel material in situ via a one-pot method using acrylic monomer derivatives, acrylamide, and zinc ions. The resulting hydrogel exhibited a high cytocompatibility (89%), excellent cyclic tensile properties, satisfactory adhesion properties (3.4 kPa), and good electrical conductivity. Furthermore, the addition of Zn\({}^{2+}\) ions imparted antibacterial properties to the hydrogel, with sterilization rates of 65.9 and 10.9% being determined against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The hydrogel was able to sense the activities of joints or other parts of the human body when attached to the skin, converting these movements into electrical signals to allow the real-time monitoring of motion. This conductive hydrogel material, therefore, exhibits potential for use in wearable electronic devices and electronic skins, among other devices. acrylic derivative; antibacterial hydrogel; conductive hydrogel; strain sensor +
Footnote †: journal: Applied Sciences  
defects [12; 13], such as a low adaptive adhesion on the hydrogel surface, poor self-healing and shape memory properties, and insufficient smart responsiveness. An increasing number of studies have recently focused on the application of hydrogel materials in wearable smart materials. In such applications, the hydrogel material must exhibit good adhesion to the skin, in addition to being able to flex with the movement of joints when used for human motion detection. In addition, hydrogels are able to detect the activities of human joints and other parts efficiently, accurately, and quickly while also exhibiting good tensile and anti-fatigue properties. The development of a simple route to hydrogel materials that possess the above-mentioned properties is therefore desirable. In this context, electrically conductive hydrogels (ECHs), as a new type of hydrogel material, possess the characteristics of traditional hydrogels while also exhibiting electrical conductivity, and as such, they are considered suitable candidates for wearable smart materials. Such conductivity is achieved in ECHs through the addition of conductive polymers [14; 15; 16], electrolytes [17], or inorganic conductive fillers, such as carbon nanotubes [18] and graphene [19]. These properties have rendered conductive hydrogels suitable for use in flexible electronics [20; 21], tissue engineering [22], and wearable devices [23; 24; 25; 26]. Conductive hydrogels can be divided into three types, namely, nanocomposite conductive hydrogels, ionic conductive hydrogels, and conductive polymer-based hydrogels, depending on their conductive components. In terms of the preparation of such materials, a graphene-based conductive hydrogel was obtained by means of a one-step hydrothermal method. More specifically, graphene oxide was added to a high-pressure reactor together with the uniformly dispersed monomer; following a 12 h reaction at 180 \({}^{\circ}\)C, the corresponding conductive hydrogel was obtained, which exhibited a conductivity of 5 \(\times\) 10\({}^{-3}\) S\(\cdot\)cm\({}^{-1}\)[15]. Despite these advances, a number of deficiencies must be addressed. For example, conductive fillers, such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, metal nanoparticles, and nanowires, are commonly introduced into the hydrogel network to construct nanocomposite conductive materials [27; 28; 29; 18].