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Upcycling of plastic garbage bags to graphene@silica fabric for sensing platforms

Nature Sustainability (2026) Cite this article

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Abstract

Flexible sensors with high durability and multifunctionality are essential for next-generation wearable technologies and applications under extreme conditions. However, most existing sensors are subjected to polymer-based substrates, which intrinsically experience poor thermal resistance, insufficient structural and chemical robustness, and unsustainable large-scale fabrication. Here we develop a winding chemical vapour deposition method using waste plastic garbage bags as solid carbon precursors to achieve uniform graphene growth on silica fabric (G@SF), simultaneously enabling high-performance textile production for cost-efficient sensor fabrication and waste plastic upcycling to address environmental pollution. By leveraging the advantages of both the woven architecture and the laser-responsive nature of the graphene layer, multifunctional sensors can be fabricated from the obtained G@SF via programmable laser erasing. These sensors have reliable multimodal sensing capabilities, including temperature detection, pressure and deformation monitoring and near-field communication. The G@SF sensors exhibit excellent thermal stability of up to 1,000 °C, mechanical flexibility and chemical robustness. A proof-of-concept smart glove that integrates G@SF sensors further highlights their multifunctionality and resilience under harsh conditions. This study presents a viable strategy for fabricating sustainable and high-performance flexible sensor fabrics from plastic waste.

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Fig. 1: Fabrication and characterization of G@SF based on PE-PGBs.
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Fig. 2: Comprehensive characterization of materials derived from PGBs and their conversion process.
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Fig. 3: Laser erasing process of G@SF sensor arrays and corresponding parameter optimization.
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Fig. 4: Durability performance tests of the G@SF sensor.
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Fig. 5: Performance of different types of G@SF sensors.
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Fig. 6: Performance of a multifunction sensing glove based on G@SF sensors.
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Data availability

The data supporting this research are available within the paper and Supplementary Information. The data are obtainable from the corresponding author G.C. upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS-CXTD-202001) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. T2188101).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Guang Cui, Zhe Peng, Zhidong Liu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Optoelectronics Technology Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China

    Guang Cui, Zhe Peng, Zhidong Liu, Maoyuan Li & Huihui Wang

  2. College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Guang Cui & Zhongfan Liu

  3. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China

    Zhidong Liu & Zhongfan Liu

  4. Beijing Graphene Institute (BGI), Beijing, China

    Haina Ci, Ruojuan Liu & Maoyuan Li

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  1. Guang Cui
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Contributions

G.C. conceived and designed the experiments. Zhongfan Liu, H.W. and M.L. supervised the project. H.C. fabricated the G@SF. Z.P. and R.L fabricated the G@SF sensors. G.C. and Z.P. performed the optical microscopy, SEM, Raman and sheet resistance characterization, thermal treatment and electromagnetic performance tests. G.C. and Zhidong Liu performed the data analysis. G.C. and Z.P. prepared the figures. Zhidong Liu and Z.P. wrote the paper under the guidance of H.W., G.C. and M.L. All the authors contributed to the discussion and analysis of the results.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Guang Cui, Huihui Wang or Zhongfan Liu.

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Nature Sustainability thanks Zhengzong Sun and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information (download PDF )

Supplementary Figs. 1–29, Discussion and Tables 1–7.

Reporting Summary (download PDF )

Supplementary Video 1 (download MP4 )

Laser patterning process.

Supplementary Video 2 (download MP4 )

Sensor self-repair process.

Supplementary Video 3 (download MP4 )

Sensor self-cleaning process.

Supplementary Video 4 (download MP4 )

NFC function demonstration.

Supplementary Video 5 (download MP4 )

Glove fire resistance demonstration.

Supplementary Video 6 (download MP4 )

Glove-controlled drone demonstration.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1 (download XLSX )

Raman curves, XPS curves and bar chart.

Source Data Fig. 2 (download XLSX )

Raman curves, GC curves, Raman intensity statistics, XPS curves and bar chart.

Source Data Fig. 3 (download XLSX )

Bar chart.

Source Data Fig. 4 (download XLSX )

Bar chart and corrosion resistance curves.

Source Data Fig. 5 (download XLSX )

Temperature resistance curves and sensing response curves.

Source Data Fig. 6 (download XLSX )

Temperature response curves and glove motion response curves.

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Cui, G., Peng, Z., Liu, Z. et al. Upcycling of plastic garbage bags to graphene@silica fabric for sensing platforms. Nat Sustain (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01837-4

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