Abstract
With the rising demand for wearable, multifunctional, and flexible electronics, plenty of efforts aiming at wearable devices have been devoted to designing sensors with greater efficiency, wide environment tolerance, and good sustainability. Herein, a thin film of double-network ionic hydrogel with a solution replacement treatment method is fabricated, which not only possesses excellent stretchability (>1100%) and good transparency (>80%), but also maintains a wide application temperature range (−10~40 °C). Moreover, the hydrogel membrane further acts as both the flexible electrode and a triboelectric layer, with a larger friction area achieved through a micro-structure pattern method. Combining this with a corona-charged fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) film, an electret/hydrogel-based tactile sensor (EHTS) is designed and fabricated. The output performance of the EHTS is effectively boosted by 156.3% through the hybrid of triboelectric and electrostatic effects, which achieves the open-circuit peak voltage of 12.5 V, short-circuit current of 0.5 μA, and considerable power of 4.3 μW respectively, with a mentionable size of 10 mm × 10 mm × 0.9 mm. The EHTS also demonstrates a stable output characteristic within a wide range of temperature tolerance from −10 to approximately 40 °C and can be further integrated into a mask for human breath monitoring, which could provide for a reliable healthcare service during the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, the EHTS shows excellent potential in the fields of healthcare devices and wearable electronics.
Highlights
The rapid development of wearable and functional electronics has drawn significant attention towards the field of transparent, flexible, and efficient devices that are urgently demanded by human beings [1–7]
With the combined effect of microstructures and fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) electret, electret/hydrogel-based tactile sensor (EHTS) generates a considerable peak open-circuit voltage of 12.5 V and an impressive short-circuit current of 0.54 μA
To explore the influence of the external temperature variations on the output perforIn this paper, an electret/hydrogel‐based tactile sensor combined with the pyramidal mance of the EHTS, comparative experiments have been designed to test the voltages of the patterned DN solvent replacement treatment treatment (SRT) ◦ionic hydrogel membrane and FEP electret thin film is proposed and EHTS under −10 C and 40 ◦ C
Summary
The rapid development of wearable and functional electronics has drawn significant attention towards the field of transparent, flexible, and efficient devices that are urgently demanded by human beings [1–7]. Various devices and applications of mechanical sensors [2,8–10], flexible electronic skins [11–15], and wearable devices [16–18] have been designed and introduced into our lives, which facilitate the evolution of human science and technology. Various flexible devices have been widely employed and investigated for their merits of easy integration, outstanding biocompatibility, and mechanical characteristics [19–26]. The conventional power supply methods for the devices mentioned above, such as batteries, unavoidably lead to environmental problems. The poor flexibility and inconvenient maintainability of traditional devices give rise to severe restrictions for their biophysical applications in wearable electronic device industry.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.