Skin-inspired flexible and high-sensitivity pressure sensors based on rGO films with continuous-gradient wrinkles

• Published in: Nanoscale Vol. 11; no. 10; pp. 4258 - 4266
• Main Authors: Jia, Jin, Huang, Guotao, Deng, Jianping, Pan, Kai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 14.03.2019
• Subjects: Construction; Electronic devices; Graphene; Human motion; Motion perception; Performance enhancement; Pressure sensors; Sensitivity; Sensors; Skin; Structural hierarchy; Thin films
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/c8nr08503j

Flexible electronic devices have received more and more attention. In particular, for pressure sensors, traditional methods for improving sensing performances are mostly based on the construction of microstructured templates. However, it still remains significantly challenging to conveniently fabricate thin-film sensors which possess flexibility, high sensitivity and location detection ability. Inspired by the microstructure of the human skin surface, herein, a new pressure sensor with a hierarchical structure and gradient reduced graphene oxide (rGO) wrinkles is reported. Benefiting from the skin-like structure, the pressure sensor demonstrates outstanding sensitivity, reaching 178 kPa-1; it can also detect pressure as small as 42 Pa. Furthermore, the concept of designing and constructing a gradient structure has been applied to achieve position detection, which is expected to find practical applications in human motion detection.