Flexible pressure sensors based on reduced graphene oxide @ porous silicone elastomers with good resolution and wide working range

Abstract

Current flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors still face challenges, such as poor stability and a limited detection range, making it difficult to accurately discern small-scale pressures in the Pa or MPa range when meeting sudden pressure events. To tackle the above issues, this study presents the development of a competent sensor composed of porous conductive elastomer and laser-induced graphene electrodes. The substrate of the composite elastomer is a porous silicone elastomer obtained by the additive reaction using template methods, and the conductive filler consisting of reduced graphene oxide is synthesized through an eco-friendly approach. We demonstrated that the sensors fabricated here have the ability to precisely resolve pressures from 542 Pa to 1.5 MPa with long-term stability, as well as the detection of subtle signals, such as pulse pulsation and throat vibrations. Above all, such sensors have great potential in the application of human-machine interaction.