Carbonized cotton fabric-based multilayer piezoresistive pressure sensors

Abstract

Piezoresistive pressure sensors have attracted much attention for their potential applications in health monitoring, wearable devices, electronic skin and smart robots. Herein, we report an innovative strategy to fabricate multilayer piezoresistive pressure sensors with polydimethylsiloxane anchored carbonized cotton fabric (PACCF). Due to the good conductivity of carbonized cotton fabric and the multilayer structure to construct three-dimensional conductive network, the sensor possessed not only a wide pressure detection range, but also an ultrahigh sensitivity of 13.89 kPa−1 (0–6 kPa). Moreover, the sensor also exhibited fast response and excellent repeatability even after 500 loading–unloading cycles. Importantly, the sensor was successfully applied for detecting pulses, airflow, weak vibration and various body motions. Additionally, the sensors integrated sensing matrix also realized mapping and identifying spatial pressure distribution. Our method to fabricate PACCF-based multilayer piezoresistive pressure sensor is simple, efficient and low-cost; no special equipment or chemicals is required, and cotton as main raw material is natural and renewable, which is very beneficial for large-scale production. Our findings conceivably stand out as a new tool to fabricate high-performance pressure sensors in the fields of healthcare and emerging intelligent electronics.