Recent progress in flexible capacitive sensors:Structures and properties

The future intelligent era that will be brought about by 5G technology can be well predicted.For example,the connection between humans and smart wearable devices will become increasingly more intimate.Flexible wearable pressure sensors have received much attention as a part of this process.Nevertheless,there is a lack of complete and detailed discussion on the recent research status of capacitive pressure sensors composed of polymer composites.Therefore,this article will mainly discuss the key concepts,preparation methods and main performance of flexible wearable capacitive sensors.The concept of a processing“toolbox”is used to review the developmental status of the dielectric layer as revealed in highly cited literature from the past five years.The preparation methods are categorized into types of processing:primary and secondary.Using these categories,the preparation methods and structure of the dielectric layer are discussed.Their influence on the final capacitive sensing behavior is also addressed.Recent developments in the electrode layer are also systematically reviewed.Finally,the results of the above discussion are summarized and future development trends are discussed.

Development of capacitive sensor signal conditioning system for angular displacement measurement using timer IC LM555 and UFDC

In this research paper,we have presented variable area type capacitive sensor signal conditioning system for angular displacement measurement and for this purpose we have used timer LM555 based astable multivibrator and universal frequency to digital converter (UFDC). Due to variation in angular displacement in the variable area type capacitor which is connected in the timer based astable circuit,capacitance changes which in turn changes the time period of the timer circuit output. The time period of the timer output waveform is linear with the capacitance and hence linear with angular displacement. The timer output is further processed with UFDC for the measurement. The experimental results show that the time period is linear with the angular displacement in the range of 0- 180° and the uncertainty we should associate it with this average time period value is the standard deviation of the mean,often called the standard error (SE),which is ± 0.023 μs. Because of the simplicity,this measurement system can be used in both electronic and industrial instrumentation.

A Novel Uniplanar Multi-Electrode Capacitive Sensor for In-Situ Weathering Damage Detection of Nonmetallic Materials

A uniplanar capacitive sensor with 5-electrodes on one plane substrate and a large reflector electrode,was designed to get the corresponding capacitance information for weathering damage detection of non-metallic materials exposed to a service environment.A 2-D finite-element method was employed to simulate the electric potential distribution and capacitance measurements for the sensor.2 marble slabs,one was healthy and the other was notched,were experimentally detected.Both the simulation and the preliminary experimental results show that the measured capacitances decrease after weathering damage occurs in nonmetallic material.The reflector can enlarge the sensitive depth.The weathering assessment of nonmetallic materials can be done by processing the measured capacitances.The proposed approach can effectively detect the weathering damage of nonmetallic material and can be practically used for in-situ weathering damage evaluation.

Flexible capacitive pressure sensor based on interdigital electrodes with porous microneedle arrays for physiological signal monitoring

Flexible pressure sensors have many potential applications in the monitoring of physiological signals because of their good biocompatibil-ity and wearability.However,their relatively low sensitivity,linearity,and stability have hindered their large-scale commercial application.Herein,aflexible capacitive pressure sensor based on an interdigital electrode structure with two porous microneedle arrays(MNAs)is pro-posed.The porous substrate that constitutes the MNA is a mixed product of polydimethylsiloxane and NaHCO3.Due to its porous and interdigital structure,the maximum sensitivity(0.07 kPa-1)of a porous MNA-based pressure sensor was found to be seven times higher than that of an imporous MNA pressure sensor,and it was much greater than that of aflat pressure sensor without a porous MNA structure.Finite-element analysis showed that the interdigital MNA structure can greatly increase the strain and improve the sensitivity of the sen-sor.In addition,the porous MNA-based pressure sensor was found to have good stability over 1500 loading cycles as a result of its bilayer parylene-enhanced conductive electrode structure.Most importantly,it was found that the sensor could accurately monitor the motion of afinger,wrist joint,arm,face,abdomen,eye,and Adam’s apple.Furthermore,preliminary semantic recognition was achieved by monitoring the movement of the Adam’s apple.Finally,multiple pressure sensors were integrated into a 33 array to detect a spatial pressure distribu-×tion.Compared to the sensors reported in previous works,the interdigital electrode structure presented in this work improves sensitivity and stability by modifying the electrode layer rather than the dielectric layer.

A bionic approach for the mechanical and electrical decoupling of an MEMS capacitive sensor in ultralow force measurement

Capacitive sensors are efficient tools for biophysical force measurement,which is essential for the exploration of cellular behavior.However,attention has been rarely given on the influences of external mechanical and internal electrical interferences on capacitive sensors.In this work,a bionic swallow structure design norm was developed for mechanical decoupling,and the influences of structural parameters on mechanical behavior were fully analyzed and optimized.A bionic feather comb distribution strategy and a portable readout circuit were proposed for eliminating electrostatic interferences.Electrostatic instability was evaluated,and electrostatic decoupling performance was verified on the basis of a novel measurement method utilizing four complementary comb arrays and applicationspecific integrated circuit readouts.An electrostatic pulling experiment showed that the bionic swallow structure hardly moved by 0.770 nm,and the measurement error was less than 0.009% for the area-variant sensor and 1.118% for the gap-variant sensor,which can be easily compensated in readouts.The proposed sensor also exhibited high resistance against electrostatic rotation,and the resulting measurement error dropped below 0.751%.The rotation interferences were less than 0.330 nm and(1.829×10^(-7))°,which were 35 times smaller than those of the traditional differential one.Based on the proposed bionic decoupling method,the fabricated sensor exhibited overwhelming capacitive sensitivity values of 7.078 and 1.473 pF/μm for gap-variant and area-variant devices,respectively,which were the highest among the current devices.High immunity to mechanical disturbances was maintained simultaneously,i.e.,less than 0.369% and 0.058% of the sensor outputs for the gap-variant and area-variant devices,respectively,indicating its great performance improvements over existing devices and feasibility in ultralow biomedical force measurement.

Progress of Proximity Sensors for Potential Applications in Electronic Skins

Recently,electronic skins and fl exible wearable devices have been developed for widespread applications in medical monitoring,artifi cial intelligence,human–machine interaction,and artifi cial prosthetics.Flexible proximity sensors can accurately perceive external objects without contact,introducing a new way to achieve an ultrasensitive perception of objects.This article reviews the progress of fl exible capacitive proximity sensors,fl exible triboelectric proximity sensors,and fl exible gate-enhanced proximity sensors,focusing on their applications in the electronic skin fi eld.Herein,their working mechanism,materials,preparation methods,and research progress are discussed in detail.Finally,we summarize the future challenges in developing fl exible proximity sensors.

A planar capacitive sensor for 2D long-range displacement measurement

A planar capacitive sensor(PCS) capable of 2D large-scale measurement is presented in this paper.Displacement interpretation depends on independently measuring the periodic variation in capacitance caused by the change in the overlapping area of sensing electrodes on a moving plate and a fixed plate.By accumulating the number of quarters in each direction and the specific position in the final quarter,the large-scale measurement is fulfilled.Displacements in Xand Y-direction can be measured independently and simultaneously.Simulation shows that a shorter gap distance and a longer electrode guarantee better sensitivity.Experiments based on a PCS test bench demonstrate that the PCS has a sensitivity of 0.198 mV/μm and a resolution of 0.308 μm.An electric fringe effect and other possible measurement errors on displacement interpretation accuracy are discussed.The study confirms the high potential of PCSs as innovative 2D long-range displacement sensors.

Calibration Method of Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor

Soil properties and water content vary from place to place. The calibration method based on capacitive soil moisture and humidity sensor is carried out. The sensor readings are compared with the mass water content measured by the oven dried method,and the calibration formula of sensor reading and mass moisture content is established.Results show that the sensor reading has a good linear relationship with the mass water content measured by the oven dried method,and has high precision. It can calibrate the mass moisture content of the data obtained from the moisture migration test in the soil column.

Capacitive sensor probe to assess frying oil degradation

The repeated usage of frying oil has been proven hazardous due to the degradation process by chemical reactions that lead to changes in the quality of the oil.Currently,the degree of frying oil degradation is indicated by the percentage of its total polar compounds(TPC).In this study,a capacitive sensor was designed to assess frying oil degradation at several heating time intervals by measuring changes on its electrical capacitance.The sensor was designed using interdigitated electrode structure.A total of 30 samples of 130 ml palm oil were heated at 180℃ up to 30 h.For each one hour interval,one sample was moved out from the laboratory oven.The electrical capacitance,total polar compound(TPC)and viscosity of the samples were measured for analysis.Preliminary results demonstrated significant correlation between oil electrical capacitance with TPC and viscosity with R^2 ranged from 0.83 to 0.90.The designed sensor has good potential for simple and inexpensive way of determining frying oil quality.

Laser speckle grayscale lithography:a new tool for fabricating highly sensitive flexible capacitive pressure sensors

Achieving a high sensitivity for practical applications has always been one of the main developmental directions for wearable flexible pressure sensors.This paper introduces a laser speckle grayscale lithography system and a novel method for fabricating random conical array microstructures using grainy laser speckle patterns.Its feasibility is attributed to the autocorrelation function of the laser speckle intensity,which adheres to a first-order Bessel function of the first kind.Through objective speckle size and exposure dose manipulations,we developed a microstructured photoresist with various micromorphologies.These microstructures were used to form polydimethylsiloxane microstructured electrodes that were used in flexible capacitive pressure sensors.These-1 sensors exhibited an ultra-high sensitivity:19.76 kPa for the low-pressure range of 0-100 Pa.Their minimum detection threshold was 1.9 Pa,and they maintained stability and resilience over 10,000 test cycles.These sensors proved to be adept at capturing physiological signals and providing tactile feedback,thereby emphasizing their practical value.

Development of MEMS-based micro capacitive tactile probe

In this paper, a micro capacitive sensor with nanometer resolution is presented for ultra-precision measurement of micro components, which is fabricated by the MEMS （micro electromechanical systems） non-silicon technique. Based on the sensor, a micro capacitive tactile probe is constructed by stylus assembly and packaging design for dimension metrology on micro/nano scale, in which a data acquiring system is developed with AD7747. Some measurements of the micro capacitive tactile probe are performed on a nano positioning and measuring machine （NMM）. The measurement results show good linearity and hysteresis with a range of 11.6 μm and resolution of better than 5 nm. Hence, the micro capacitive tactile probe can be integrated on NMM to realize measurement of micro structures with nanometer accuracy.

Effects of electric field fringe on performances of grid strip capacitive MEMS devices

Sensing structure of grid strip capacitors can be used in the design of capacitive micro-electromechanical system （MEMS） resonators, accelerometers etc. A grid strip structure consists of nonentirely overlap plates so that the capacitor fringe effect cannot be neglected in the design. Electricmagnetic Finite Element Method （FEM） software ANSOFF-Maxwell is employed to analyze the fringe effect of a grid strip capacitor. The analysis includes capacitance changes with change of overlap length, overlap width, plate thickness, grid strip density etc. The results show that fringe effect leads to non-linear change of grid strip capacitance with the change of overlap length and width, that the capacitance increases with the increase of grid strip width and plate thickness, and that sensitivity can be improved through the increase of grid strip density in the condition of identical total overlap area, but linearity is reduced.

Liquid holdup measurement with double helix capacitance sensor in horizontal oil-water two-phase flow pipes

This paper presents the characteristics of a double helix capacitance sensor for measurement of the liquid holdup in horizontal oil–water two-phase flow. The finite element method is used to calculate the sensitivity field of the sensor in a pipe with 20 mm inner diameter and the effect of sensor geometry on the distribution of sensitivity field is presented. Then, a horizontal oil–water two-phase flow experiment is carried out to measure the response of the double helix capacitance sensor, in which a novel method is proposed to calibrate the liquid holdup based on three pairs of parallel-wire capacitance probes. The performance of the sensor is analyzed in terms of the flow structures detected by mini-conductance array probes.

Nondestructive testing method of wood moisture content based on a planar capacitance sensor model

For our research, a new hybrid experimental-computational method is presented. We applied a least squares fitting method （LSFM） to reconstruct the wood moisture content （WMC） from the data measured with a planar capacitance sensor. A boundary element method （BEM） was used to compute the relationship between capacitance and the dielectric constant. A functional relationship between MC and the dielectric constant was identified by LSFM. The agreement of this final computation result with the experimental data indicates that this method can be used to estimate the WMC quickly and effectively with engineering analysis. Compared with popular statistical methods, a large number of experiments are avoided, some costs of testing are reduced and the efficiency of testing is enhanced.

Design of capacitance sensor system for void fraction measurement

Simulation and optimization were applied to a capacitive sensor system based on electrical tomography technology. Sensors, consisting of Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) axial synchro driving guard electrodes and two sets of detecting electrodes, make it possible to obtain simultaneously two groups of signals of the void fraction in oil-gas two-phase flow. The computational and experimental results showed that available sensors, charactered by high resolution and fast real-time response can be used for real-time liquid-gas two-phase flow pattern determination.

Capacitance sensor for automatic soil retreat measurements

To continuously monitor the soil retreat due to erosion in field,provide valuable information about the erosion processes and overcome the disadvantages of inefficiency,high time-consumption and labor-intensity of existing methods,this paper describes a novel capacitance sensor for measuring the soil retreat.A capacitance sensor based probe is proposed,which can measure the depth of the soil around it automatically and the data can be recorded by a data logger.Experimental results in the lab verify its usefulness.

Textile-Based Capacitive Pressure Distribution Measurement System for Human Sitting Posture Monitoring

Flexible pressure monitoring device can help correct the sitting posture and prevent health problems(e.g.,deformity of spinal column and musculoskeletal disease).Currently,most measurement systems hinder their wide applications owing to the high cost or low accuracy.In this study,a flexible sitting pressure measurement system was proposed based on a textile-based capacitive pressure sensor array in order to measure sitting pressure distribution simply and conveniently.The capacitive pressure sensor array is sandwich structure composed of a high-density sponge layer and two electrode array fabrics,which possesses high resolution(2.26 sensors/cm2),high sensitivity(0.701 kPa-1)and fast response(≤35 ms).It is worth noting that the raw materials of the sensing fabric include commercialized copper sheets and polyester yarns.The as-prepared pressure measurement system can accurately measure the pressure distribution nephogram for sitting posture analysis.The sitting pressure of 10 volunteers was measured and six types of posture were distinguished clearly.

Facile fabrication of microstructured surface using laser speckle for high-sensitivity capacitive pressure sensors

The design of a maskless exposure system for fabricating the microstructured surface based on the grainy light illumination generated by laser speckle is reported. Upon combining with soft lithography, we obtained microstructured polydimethylsiloxane electrodes with microstructure sizes of 20 μm and 40 μm and microstructure fill factors ranging from 10% to 90%. The feasibility of using this method in fabricating high-sensitivity capacitive pressure sensors was demonstrated. The sensor shows the highest sensitivity of 2.14 k Pa-1under 0–100 Pa pressures, the low detection limit of 4.9 Pa, and the excellent stability and durability of 10000 cycles. The method of employing laser speckle in fabricating microstructures with different morphologies is simple and robust, which is superior to other methods such as traditional photolithography.

Manufacturing and characterizing of CCTO/SEBS dielectric elastomer as capacitive strain sensors

Calcium copper titanate(CCTO)/polystyrenepolyethylene-polybutylene-poly styrene(SEBS)dielectric elastomers were prepared via blending method.A capacitive strain sensor using CCTO/SEBS as dielectric layer and polyaniline-dodecylbenzensulfonic acid(PANI-DB S A)/SEBS as electrodes was designed and manufactured by thermoforming process.X-ray diffractometer(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and Raman spectra analyses were carried out;no impurities were found in the composite and CCTO particles were well dispersed.The dielectric tests showed that the samples filled with 20 wt%CCTO have their permittivity improved by 70%.The capacitive strain sensors have a stabilized capacitance variety range at different strain ranges or stretch speeds,and could remain synchronized after 500-time-stretching,showing high reproducibility.

Highly stable capacitive tactile sensors with tunable sensitivity facilitated by electrostatic interaction of layered double hydroxide,MXene,and Ag NWs

A capacitive tactile sensor(CTS)has been developed by assembling a double-sided patterned dielectric layer and novel electrodes.The patterned aluminium foil-supported electrode comprises zinc-aluminium layered double hydroxides(Zn AlLDH),MXene,and Ag NWs via electrostatic interaction.This flexible device enables greater structural deformation,thereby enhancing sensitivity to a wide range of pressure.The sensitivity of the CTS can be customized to meet specific requirements by matching the microstructured electrodes with the patterned dielectric layer.An optimized sensor exhibits a sensitivity of 2.752 kPa^(–1)within 30 kPa,a response time of approximately 100 ms,and a wide detection range of 0–300 kPa.The strong physical interaction among the electrode materials ensures a reliable conductive network,ensuring the long-term stability of the sensor,even after 7500 loading and unloading cycles.Furthermore,the fabricated CTS device presents a promising prospect for the integration into wearable electronics,with the ability to effectively respond to both human activities and external physical stimuli.