Flexible Piezoelectric Nanofibers/Polydimethylsiloxane‐Based Pressure Sensor for Self‐Powered Human Motion Monitoring. Issue 3 (28th January 2020) - Hou, Xiaojuan
Abstract : Self‐powered wearable devices have attracted significantly increased attention in human motion monitoring. These flexible physical sensors conformally attach to the surface of the skin to provide new applications in human‐activity monitoring. Herein, a highly ﬂexible and self‐powered piezoelectric pressure sensor for real‐time human motion detecting using a piezoelectric thin film with high filling ratio of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) nanofibers (NFs) in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is reported. Due to the large dielectric constant of PZT and elastic properties of PDMS, the sensor performs in a wide linear region (1.25–250 kPa) with great linearity (pressure–voltage 0.9909) and good reproducibility over 2000 cycles. Using the sensor, various human body motions are detected, including joint bending, subtle/large wrist deformations, wrist and some common sporting movements. In addition, a sensor array is successfully developed to realize motion tracking, showing strong potential for application in personal recognition. Abstract : A flexible piezoelectric sensor composed of a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) nanofibers/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) piezoelectric composite layer and two magnetron‐sputtered copper (Cu) electrode layers is proposed. The sensor has good flexibility, extensibility, and adapts perfectly to the surface topography of the body without external power supply. It fulfills the requirements for human motion monitoring.