Durable, Sensitive, and Wide‐Range Wearable Pressure Sensors Based on Wavy‐Structured Flexible Conductive Composite Film. Issue 8 (8th July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shen, Yepeng; Wang, Yanbin; Luo, Zhonglin; Wang, Biaobing
• Is Part Of: Macromolecular materials and engineering. Volume 305:Issue 8(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-07-08
• Subjects: high durability sensors -- high sensitivity sensors -- pressure sensors -- wavy‐structured composite films -- wide sensing range; Plastics -- Periodicals; Polymers -- Periodicals; Polymerization -- Periodicals; 547.705
• DOI: 10.1002/mame.202000206
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1438-7492

Abstract

Abstract: Flexible pressure sensors have potential applications in human motion monitoring and electronic skins. To satisfy the practical applications, pressure sensors with a high sensitivity, a low detection limit, a broad response range, and an excellent stability are highly needed. Here, a piezoresistive pressure sensor based on wavy‐structured single‐walled carbon nanotube/graphite flake/thermoplastic polyurethane (SWCNT/GF/TPU) composite film is fabricated by a prestretching process. Due to the random wavy structure, high conductivity, and good flexibility, the prepared sensor displays a low detection limit of 2 Pa, a wide sensing range of 0–60 kPa, and a high sensitivity of 5.49 kPa −1 for 0–50 Pa. Furthermore, the sensor shows a remarkable repeatability of over 1.1 × 10 4, 9.0 × 10 3, and 2.0 × 10 3 pressure loading/unloading cycles at 50 Pa, 500 Pa, and 30 kPa, respectively, and a fast responsibility of 100–150 ms of loading response time and 400–600 ms of relaxation time. Therefore, the pressure sensor is successfully adopted to monitor both the large‐scale human activities (e.g., walk and jump) and the small‐scale signals (e.g., wrist pulse). Furthermore, a sensor array is assembled to map the weight and shape of an object, indicating its various potential applications including human–machine interactions, human health monitoring, and other wearable electronics. Abstract : A wavy‐structured flexible conductive composite film shows a low limit of detection (2 Pa), a wide sensing pressure range (0–60 kPa), a superior durability (more than 9 × 10 3 loading/unloading cycles at 500 Pa), and can be applied in health monitoring (e.g., pulse rate) and motion detection (e.g., jumping movement).