Hierarchically patterned self-powered sensors for multifunctional tactile sensing

Yang Wang; Heting Wu; Lin Xu; Hainan Zhang; Ya Yang; Zhong Lin Wang

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abb9083

Hierarchically patterned self-powered sensors for multifunctional tactile sensing

Sci Adv. 2020 Aug 19;6(34):eabb9083. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abb9083. eCollection 2020 Aug.

Authors

Yang Wang¹, Heting Wu^{1

2}, Lin Xu^{1

3}, Hainan Zhang¹, Ya Yang^{1

2

3}, Zhong Lin Wang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China.
² School of Nanoscience and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³ Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
⁴ School of Material Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.

Abstract

Flexible sensors are highly desirable for tactile sensing and wearable devices. Previous researches of smart elements have focused on flexible pressure or temperature sensors. However, realizing material identification remains a challenge. Here, we report a multifunctional sensor composed of hydrophobic films and graphene/polydimethylsiloxane sponges. By engineering and optimizing sponges, the fabricated sensor exhibits a high-pressure sensitivity of >15.22 per kilopascal, a fast response time of <74 millisecond, and a high stability over >3000 cycles. In the case of temperature stimulus, the sensor exhibits a temperature-sensing resolution of 1 kelvin via the thermoelectric effect. The sensor can generate output voltage signals after physical contact with different flat materials based on contact-induced electrification. The corresponding signals can be, in turn, used to infer material properties. This multifunctional sensor is excellent in its low cost and material identification, which provides a design concept for meeting the challenges in functional electronics.

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