Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor based on a graphene-carbon nanotube-polydimethylsiloxane composite

Flexible sensors are used widely in wearable devices, specifically flexible piezoresistive sensors, which are common and easy to manipulate.However, fabricating such sensors is expensive and complex, so proposed here is a simple fabrication approach involving a sensor containing microstructures replicated from a sandpaper template onto which polydimethylsiloxane containing a mixture of graphene and carbon nanotubes is spin coated. The surface morphologies of three versions of the sensor made using different grades of sandpaper are observed, and the corresponding pressure sensitivities and linearity and hysteresis characteristics are assessed and analyzed. The results show that the sensor made using 80-mesh sandpaper has the best sensing performance. Its sensitivity is 0.341 kPa-1in the loading range of 0–1.6 kPa, it responds to small external loading of 100 Pa with a resistance change of 10%, its loading and unloading response times are 0.126 and 0.2 s, respectively,and its hysteresis characteristic is ~7%, indicating that the sensor has high sensitivity, fast response, and good stability. Thus, the presented piezoresistive sensor is promising for practical applications in flexible wearable electronics.

Fully sprayed MXene-based high-performance flexible piezoresistive sensor for image recognition

High-performance flexible pressure sensors provide comprehensive tactile perception and are applied in human activity monitoring,soft robotics,medical treatment,and human-computer interface.However,these flexible pressure sensors require extensive nano-architectural design and complicated manufacturing and are timeconsuming.Herein,a highly sensitive,flexible piezoresistive tactile sensor is designed and fabricated,consisting of three main parts:the randomly distributed microstructure on T-ZnOw/PDMS film as a top substrate,multilayer Ti_(3)C_(2)-MXene film as an intermediate conductive filler,and the few-layer Ti_(3)C_(2)-MXene nanosheetbased interdigital electrodes as the bottom substrate.The MXene-based piezoresistive sensor with randomly distributed microstructure exhibits a high sensitivity over a broad pressure range(less than 10 kPa for 175 kPa^(-1))and possesses an out-standing permanence of up to 5000 cycles.Moreover,a 16-pixel sensor array is designed,and its potential applications in visualizing pressure distribution and an example of tactile feedback are demonstrated.This fully sprayed MXene-based pressure sensor,with high sensitivity and excellent durability,can be widely used in,electronic skin,intelligent robots,and many other emerging technologies.

Bioinspired flexible piezoresistive sensor for high-sensitivity detection of broad pressure range

The human skin has the ability to sense tactile touch and a great range of pressures.Therefore,in prosthetic or robotic systems,it is necessary to prepare pressure sensors with high sensitivity in a wide measurement range to provide human-like tactile sensation.Herein,we developed a flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor that is highly sensitive in a broad pressure range by using lotus leaf micropatterned polydimethylsiloxane and multilayer superposition.By superposing four layers of micropatterned constructive substrates,the multilayer piezoresistive pressure sensor achieves a broad pressure range of 312 kPa,a high sensitivity of 2.525 kPa^(−1),a low limit of detection(LOD)of<12 Pa,and a fast response time of 45 ms.Compared with the traditional flexible pressure sensor,the pressure range of this sensor can be increased by at least an order of magnitude.The flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor also shows high robustness:after testing for at least 1000 cycles,it shows no sign of fatigue.More importantly,these sensors can be potentially applied in various human motion detection scenarios,including tiny pulse monitoring,throat vibration detection,and large under-feet pressure sensing.The proposed fabrication strategy may guide the design of other kinds of multifunctional sensors to improve the detection performance.

Highly Ordered Thermoplastic Polyurethane/Aramid Nanofiber Conductive Foams Modulated by Kevlar Polyanion for Piezoresistive Sensing and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Highly ordered and uniformly porous structure of conductive foams is a vital issue for various functional purposes such as piezoresistive sensing and electromagnetic interference(EMI) shielding. With the aids of Kevlar polyanionic chains, thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU) foams reinforced by aramid nanofibers(ANF) with adjustable pore-size distribution were successfully obtained via a nonsolvent-induced phase separation. In this regard, the most outstanding result is the in situ formation of ANF in TPU foams after protonation of Kevlar polyanion during the NIPS process. Furthermore, in situ growth of copper nanoparticles(Cu NPs) on TPU/ANF foams was performed according to the electroless deposition by using the tiny amount of pre-blended Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) MXene as reducing agents. Particularly, the existence of Cu NPs layers significantly promoted the storage modulus in 2,932% increments, and the well-designed TPU/ANF/Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x) MXene(PAM-Cu) composite foams showed distinguished compressive cycle stability. Taking virtues of the highly ordered and elastic porous architectures, the PAM-Cu foams were utilized as piezoresistive sensor exhibiting board compressive interval of 0–344.5 kPa(50% strain) with good sensitivity at 0.46 kPa^(-1). Meanwhile,the PAM-Cu foams displayed remarkable EMI shielding effectiveness at 79.09 dB in X band. This work provides an ideal strategy to fabricate highly ordered TPU foams with outstanding elastic recovery and excellent EMI shielding performance, which can be used as a promising candidate in integration of satisfactory piezoresistive sensor and EMI shielding applications for human–machine interfaces.

MXene-based flexible pressure sensor with piezoresistive properties significantly enhanced by atomic layer infiltration

The flexible pressure sensor has been credited for leading performance including higher sensitivity,faster response/recovery,wider detection range and higher mechanical durability,thus driving the development of novel sensing materials enabled by new processing technologies.Using atomic layer infiltration,Pt nanocrystals with dimensions on the order of a few nanometers can be infiltrated into the compressible lamellar structure of Ti3C2Tx MXene,allowing a modulation of its interlayer spacing,electrical conductivity and piezoresistive property.The flexible piezoresistive sensor is further developed from the Pt-infiltrated MXene on a paper substrate.It is demonstrated that Pt infiltration leads to a significant enhancement of the pressure-sensing performance of the sensor,including increase of sensitivity from 0.08 kPa^(-1)to 0.5 kPa^(-1),extension of detection limit from 5 kPa to 9 kPa,decrease of response time from 200 ms to 20 ms,and reduction of recovery time from 230 ms to 50 ms.The mechanical durability of the flexible sensor is also improved,with the piezoresistive performance stable over 1000 cycles of flexure fatigue.The atomic layer infiltration process offers new possibilities for the structure modification of MXene for advanced sensor applications.

Recent progress in graphene-based wearable piezoresistive sensors:From 1D to 3D device geometries

Electronic skin and flexible wearable devices have attracted tremendous attention in the fields of human-machine interaction,energy storage,and intelligent robots.As a prevailing flexible pressure sensor with high performance,the piezoresistive sensor is believed to be one of the fundamental components of intelligent tactile skin.Furthermore,graphene can be used as a building block for highly flexible and wearable piezoresistive sensors owing to its light weight,high electrical conductivity,and excellent mechanical.This review provides a comprehensive summary of recent advances in graphene-based piezoresistive sensors,which we systematically classify as various configurations including one-dimensional fiber,two-dimensional thin film,and threedimensional foam geometries,followed by examples of practical applications for health monitoring,human motion sensing,multifunctional sensing,and system integration.We also present the sensing mechanisms and evaluation parameters of piezoresistive sensors.This review delivers broad insights on existing graphene-based piezoresistive sensors and challenges for the future generation of high-performance,multifunctional sensors in various applications.

Performance analysis on captive silicon micro-accelerometer system

The operational principle and the lumped parameters model of capacitive micro-accelerometer are introduced. The equivalent stiffness of different directions of the accelerometer is given. From the point of view of energy and mechanics, expressions of some key parameters, such as the damping, sensitivity, resolution of the accelerometer, are derived. The accelerometer noise behavior of mechanical-thermal noise in the open-loop system, along with the dynamic range of the open-loop system and closed-loop system is analyzed. The result is that the noise of the capacitive micro accelerometer is dominated by the magnitude of mechanical-thermal noise. At the same time, the magnitude of mechanical-thermal noise depends on the temperature and magnitude of mechanical damp. The result of the measurement from the implemented closed-loop microo-accelerometer system shows that the resolution is the level of rag, and the measurement range is from -50g to 50g.

A novel micro-accelerometer with adjustable sensitivity based on resonant tunnelling diodes

Resonant tunnelling diodes （RTDs） have negative differential resistance effect, and the current-voltage characteristics change as a function of external stress, which is regarded as mesc-piezoresistance effect of RTDs. In this paper, a novel micro-accelerometer based on AlAs/GaAs/In0.1Ga0.9As/GaAs/AlAs RTDs is designed and fabricated to be a four-beam-mass structure, and an RTD-Wheatstone bridge measurement system is established to test the basic properties of this novel accelerometer. According to the experimental results, the sensitivity of the RTD based micro-accelerometer is adjustable within a range of 3 orders when the bias voltage of the sensor changes. The largest sensitivity of this RTD based miero-accelerometer is 560.2025 mV/g which is about 10 times larger than that of silicon based micro piezoresistive accelerometer, while the smallest one is 1.49135 mV/g.

Piezoresistive Response Extraction for Smart Cement-based Composites/Sensors

A kind of piezoresistive response extraction method for smart cement-based composites/sensors was proposed.Two kinds of typical piezoresistive cement-based composites/sensors were fabricated by respectively adding carbon nanotubes and nickel powders as conductive fillers into cement paste or cement mortar.The variation in measured electrical resistance of such cement-based composites/sensors was explored without loading and under repeated compressive loading and impulsive loading.The experimental results indicate that the measured electrical resistance of piezoresistive cement-based composites/sensors exhibits a two-stage variation trend of fast increase and steady increase with measurement time without loading,and an irreversible increase after loading.This results from polarization caused by ionic conduction in these composites/sensors.After reaching a plateau,the measured electrical resistance can be divided into an electrical resistance part and an electrical capacity part.The piezoresistive responses of electrical resistance part in measured electrical resistance to loading can be extracted by eliminating the linear electrical capacity part in measured electrical resistance.

Flexible Waterproof Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors with Wide Linear Working Range Based on Conductive Fabrics

Developing flexible sensors with high working performance holds intense interest for diverse applications in leveraging the Internet-of-things(IoT)infrastructures.For flexible piezoresistive sensors,traditionally most efforts are focused on tailoring the sensing materials to enhance the contact resistance variation for improving the sensitivity and working range,and it,however,remains challenging to simultaneously achieve flexible sensor with a linear working range over a high-pressure region(>100 kPa)and keep a reliable sensitivity.Herein,we devised a laserengraved silver-coated fabric as"soft"sensor electrode material to markedly advance the flexible sensor's linear working range to a level of 800 kPa with a high sensitivity of 6.4 kPa^-1 yet a fast response time of only 4 ms as well as long-time durability,which was rarely reported before.The integrated sensor successfully routed the wireless signal of pulse rate to the portable smartphone,further demonstrating its potential as a reliable electronic.Along with the rationally building the electrode instead of merely focusing on sensing materials capable of significantly improving the sensor's performance,we expect that this design concept and sensor system could potentially pave the way for developing more advanced wearable electronics in the future.

Piezoresistive design for electronic skin: from fundamental to emerging applications

There is growing recognition that the developments in piezoresistive devices from personal healthcare to artificial intelli-gence,will emerge as de novo translational success in electronic skin.Here,we review the updates with regard to piezoresistive sensors including basic fundamentals,design and fabrication,and device performance.We also discuss the prosperous advances in piezoresistive sensor application,which offer perspectives for future electronic skin.

Laser direct writing and characterizations of flexible piezoresistive sensors with microstructures

Functional materials with high viscosity and solid materials have received more and more attentions in flexible pressure sensors,which are inadequate in the most used molding method.Herein,laser direct writing(LDW)method is proposed to fabricate flexible piezoresistive sensors with microstructures on PDMS/MWCNTs composites with an 8%MWCNTs mass fraction.By controlling laser energy,microstructures with different geometries can be obtained,which significantly impacts the performances of the sensors.Subsequently,curved microcones with excellent performance are fabricated under parameters of f=40 kHz and v=150 mm·s^(-1).The sensor exhibits continuous multi-linear sensitivity,ultrahigh original sensitivity of 21.80%kPa^(-1),wide detection range of over 20 kPa,response/recovery time of~100 ms and good cycle stability for more than 1000 times.Besides,obvious resistance variation can be observed when tiny pressure(a peanut of 30 Pa)is applied.Finally,the flexible piezoresistive sensor can be applied for LED brightness controlling,pulse detection and voice recognition.

Recent Advances in Strain-Induced Piezoelectric and Piezoresistive Effect-Engineered 2D Semiconductors for Adaptive Electronics and Optoelectronics

The development of two-dimensional(2D)semiconductors has attracted widespread attentions in the scientific community and industry due to their ultra-thin thickness,unique structure,excellent optoelectronic properties and novel physics.The excellent flexibility and outstanding mechanical strength of 2D semiconductors provide opportunities for fabricated strain-sensitive devices and utilized strain tuning their electronic and optic–electric performance.The strain-engineered one-dimensional materials have been well investigated,while there is a long way to go for 2D semiconductors.In this review,starting with the fundamental theories of piezoelectric and piezoresistive effect resulted by strain,following we reviewed the recent simulation works of strain engineering in novel 2D semiconductors,such as Janus 2D and 2D-Xene structures.Moreover,recent advances in experimental observation of strain tuning PL spectra and transport behavior of 2D semiconductors are summarized.Furthermore,the applications of strain-engineered 2D semiconductors in sensors,photodetectors and nanogenerators are also highlighted.At last,we in-depth discussed future research directions of strain-engineered 2D semiconductor and related electronics and optoelectronics device applications.

Strain Effect of Manganin Transverse Piezoresistive Gauge and Measurement of Dynamic Transverse Stresses

Manganin piezoresistive gauges have been extensively used in dynamic stress measurement for decades.It is noted,however,that when used to measure transverse stresses,considerable strain effect is caused as the consequence of change of electrical resistance resulted from bending of wires in the longitudinal-strain-experiencing sensing element of the gauge,a phenomenon discussed in this paper theoretically as well as experimentally.This effect yields unwanted signals to blend with output piezoresistive signals and is not negligible,hence decreases measurement accuracy sizably if not properly handled.To overcome this drawback,a new type of manganin transverse piezoresistive gauge has been developed by authors of this paper,which can reduce the resistance increment to acceptable low level so as to effectively bring the adverse effect under control.

Development of an Ultra-Sensitive and Flexible Piezoresistive Flow Sensor Using Vertical Graphene Nanosheets

This paper suggests development of a flexible,lightweight,and ultra-sensitive piezoresistive flow sensor based on vertical graphene nanosheets(VGNs) with a mazelike structure.The sensor was thoroughly characterized for steady-state and oscillatory water flow monitoring applications.The results demonstrated a high sensitivity(103.91 mV(mm/s)-1) and a very low-velocity detection threshold(1.127 mm s-1) in steady-state flow monitoring.As one of many potential applications,we demonstrated that the proposed VGNs/PDMS flow sensor can closely mimic the vestibular hair cell sensors housed inside the semicircular canals(SCCs).As a proof of concept,magnetic resonance imaging of the human inner ear was conducted to measure the dimensions of the SCCs and to develop a 3D printed lateral semicircular canal(LSCC).The sensor was embedded into the artificial LSCC and tested for various physiological movements.The obtained results indicate that the flow sensor is able to distinguish minute changes in the rotational axis physical geometry,frequency,and amplitude.The success of this study paves the way for extending this technology not only to vestibular organ prosthesis but also to other applications such as blood/urine flow monitoring,intravenous therapy(Ⅳ),water leakage monitoring,and unmanned underwater robots through incorporation of the appropriate packaging of devices.

Electrical and Piezoresistive Properties of Steel Fiber Cement-based Composites Aligned by a Magnetic Field

Directionally distributed steel fiber cement-based composites(SFCCs)were prepared by magnetic field(MF)induction technology.The orientation factor of steel fibers in the as-obtained SFCCs was determined.Besides,the electrical resistivity and piezoresistive responses in two directions of aligned steel fiber cement-based composites,i e,parallel and perpendicular to MF,were measured.The effects of several variables,eg,steel fiber content,curing age,humidity,and temperature,on anisotropic electrical property were studied.The cyclic and failure piezoresistive responses in different directions were tested.It is found that the aligned steel fibers in the as-obtained SFCCs have a high orientation factor more than 0.88.Besides,SFCCs with aligned steel fibers exhibit an obvious anisotropic conductivity and piezoelectric sensitivity.The electrical conductivity of SFCCs with aligned steel fibers is less affected by temperature and humidity.At the steel fiber content of 2.5wt%,the piezoelectric sensitivity coefficient of SFCCs in the direction parallel to MF has the highest value of 324.14.In addition,the piezoresistive properties of SFCCs with aligned steel fibers in the direction parallel to MF indicate excellent sensitivity and stability under cyclic loading and monotonic loading.

Micro-accelerometer Based on Vertically Movable Gate Field Effect Transistor

A vertically movable gate field effect transistor(VMGFET) is proposed and demonstrated for a microaccelerometer application. The VMGFET using air gap as an insulator layer allows the gate to move on the substrate vertically by external forces. Finite element analysis is used to simulate mechanical behaviors of the designed structure. For the simulation, the ground acceleration spectrum of the 1952 Kern County Earthquake is employed to investigate the structural integrity of the sensor in vibration. Based on the simulation, a prototype VMGFET accelerometer is fabricated from silicon on insulator wafer. According to current–voltage characteristics of the prototype VMGFET, the threshold voltage is measured to be 2.32 V, which determines the effective charge density and the mutual transconductance of1.545910-8C cm-2and 6.59 m A V-1, respectively. The device sensitivity is 9.36–9.42 m V g-1in the low frequency,and the first natural frequency is found to be 1230 Hz. The profile smoothness of the sensed signal is in 3 d B range up to1 k Hz.

A button switch inspired duplex hydrogel sensor based on both triboelectric and piezoresistive effects for detecting dynamic and static pressure

The capability to sense complex pressure variations comprehensively is vital for wearable electronics and flexible human–machine interfaces.In this paper,inspired by button switches,a duplex tactile sensor based on the combination of triboelectric and piezoresistive effects is designed and fabricated.Because of its excellent mechanical strength and electrical stability,a double-networked ionic hydrogel is used as both the conductive electrode and elastic current regulator.In addition,micro-pyramidal patterned polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)acts as both the friction layer and the encapsulation elastomer,thereby boosting the triboelectric output performance significantly.The duplex hydrogel sensor demonstrates comprehensive sensing ability in detecting the whole stimulation process including the dynamic and static pressures.The dynamic stress intensity(10–300 Pa),the action time,and the static variations(increase and decrease)of the pressure can be identified precisely from the dual-channel signals.Combined with a signal processing module,an intelligent visible door lamp is achieved for monitoring the entire“contact–hold–release–separation”state of the external stimulation,which shows great application potential for future smart robot e-skin and flexible electronics.

The Effect of Temperature and Doping Level on the Characteristics of Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor

Piezoresistive pressure sensors based on silicon have a large thermal drift because of their high sensitivity to temperature. The study of the effect of the temperature and doping level on characteristics of these sensors is essential to define the parameters that cause the output characteristics drift. In this study, we adopted the model of Kanda to determine the effect of the temperature and of doping level on the piezoresistivity of the Silicon monocrystal. This is to represent P(N,T) and for p-type silicon as functions of impurity concentration for different temperatures. This allows us to see the effect of temperature and doping concentration on the output characteristics of the sensor. Finally, we study the geometric influence parameters and doping on these characteristics to optimize the sensor performance. This study allows us to predict the sensor behavior against temperature and to minimize this effect by optimizing the doping concentration.

Piezoresistive detector for MEMS accelerometer displacement sensing

We have designed a piezoresistive detector to detect the displacement of an accelerometer.We have used a flexible contact force and impact time detector for sensing the acceleration in the time domain.The advantage of using this mechanism is good linearity,compactness,scalability,and the potential to realize a higher precision accelerometer due to time-based measurement.The estimated mechanical and electrical parameters of beam detector are presented.We used COMSOL Multiphysics for designing the detector and Matlab for analysis.