Anodized Aluminum Oxide-Assisted Low-Cost Flexible Capacitive Pressure Sensors Based on Double-Sided Nanopillars by a Facile Fabrication Method.

Abstract

Flexible pressure sensors have garnered enormous attention in recent years as they hold great promise in wearable electronic devices. However, the realization of a high-performance flexible pressure sensor via a facile and cost-effective approach still remains a challenge. In this work, a capacitive pressure sensor based on a poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] dielectric film that incorporates nanopillars into both sides is demonstrated. Unlike the previous complicated and expensive methods, large-scale regular and uniform nanopillars are easily and economically achieved by the pattern transfer of anodized aluminum oxide templates. The double-sided nanopillars constituting the P(VDF-TrFE) dielectric layer enable the pressure sensor with high sensitivity (∼0.35 kPa-1), wide working range (4 Pa to 25 kPa), short response time (∼48 ms), and excellent durability. In addition to these salient features, our sensor also exhibits superior performances under bending states, ensuring that it can be used for detecting diverse practical stimuli as experimentally validated by perceiving real-time and in-site human physiological signals and body motions that, respectively, correspond to the low- and high-pressure range. A sensor array is finally constructed and is shown to be capable of perceiving the spatial pressure distribution of either a contact or noncontact object. These demonstrations show a promising future of our sensor in healthcare monitoring, smart robot skin, and human-machine interfaces.