Flexible Broad-Range Pressure Sensors Enabled by Deformation-Induced Conductive Channels in 3D Graphene Foam@Polydimethylsiloxane Composite for Precise Vibrational Signal Detection

Here we report the design and fabrication of high-performance pressure sensors based on three-dimensional(3D)graphene foam flled polydimethylsiloxane(GF@PDMS)composite with a broad sensing range spaning from 0.05 kPa to 130 kPa.The interpretation of device functioning mechanism can be classified into low and high pressure sensing regions.In the low pressure region(<15 kPa),the pressure loading leads to the temporal connection of micro-cracks in GF scaffold and forming conductive channels.In the high pressure region(15 kPa to 130 kPa),the pressure induced deformation of GF results in the better connections among micro-cracks and the shortening of conductive pathway to further decrease the electrical resistance.The GF@PDMS sensors exhibited accuracy,sensibility and reproducibility to detect pressure signals with re-markable stability for over 16000 loading-unloading cycles,indicating its great potential for practical applications.Moreover,the GF@PDMS sensors also showed high performances in the detection of dynamic pressures,such as subtle mechanical vibration signals,as well as physiology vibrational signals generated by human throats.We expect this technology could be integrated into different sensing systems for the applications in wearable smart elec-tronics and human-machine communications.