A laser ablated graphene-based flexible self-powered pressure sensor for human gestures and finger pulse monitoring

Flexible triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs)-based pressure sensors are very essential for the wide-range applications, comprising wearable healthcare systems, intuitive human-device interfaces, electronic-skin (e-skin), and artificial intelligence. Most of conventional fabrication methods used to produce high-performance TENGs involve plasma treatment, photolithography, printing, and electro-deposition. However, these fabrication techniques are expensive, multi-step, time-consuming and not suitable for mass production, which are the main barriers for efficient and cost-effective commercialization of TENGs. Here, we established a highly reliable scheme for the fabrication of a novel eco-friendly, low cost, and TENG-based pressure sensor (TEPS) designed for usage in self-powered-human gesture detection (SP-HGD) likewise wearable healthcare applications. The sensors with microstructured electrodes performed well with high sensitivity (7.697 kPa^-1), a lower limit of detection (~ 1 Pa), faster response time (< 9.9 ms), and highly stable over > 4,000 compression-releasing cycles. The proposed method is suitable for the adaptable fabrication of TEPS at an extremely low cost with possible applications in self-powered systems, especially e-skin and healthcare applications.

On-skin ultrathin and stretchable multifunctional sensor for smart healthcare wearables

The flexible and stretchable multifunctional sensors for the precise monitoring of the human physiological health indicators is an emerging requirement of next-generation electronics.However,the integration of multifunctional sensors into a common substrate for simultaneous detection of such signals without interfering with each other is the most challenging work.Here,we propose MXene-Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) and 3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene(EDOT)deposited on laser-induced graphene(LIG/MXene-Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)@EDOT)composite-based flexible and stretchable multifunctional sensors for strain,temperature,and electrocardiogram(ECG)monitoring.In-situ electrophoretic deposition(EPD)of MXene-Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)@EDOT composite into LIG outperforms high strain sensitivity of 2,075,temperature coefficient of resistance(TCR)of 0.86%,and low skin-contact impedance.The sensor platform is integrated into an ultrathin and highly resilient polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene(SEBS).Finally,we demonstrate onsite detection of human body-induced deformations and physiological health indicators,such as temperature and ECG.The proposed approach paves a promising route to future wearables for smart skin and healthcare applications.