Abstract
Highly sensitive and flexible composite sensors with pressure and temperature sensing abilities are of great importance in human motion monitoring, robotic skins, and automobile seats when checking the boarding status. Several studies have been conducted to improve the temperature-pressure sensitivity; however, they require a complex fabrication process for micro-nanostructures, which are material-dependent. Therefore, there is a need to develop the structural designs to improve the sensing abilities. Herein, we demonstrate a flexible composite with an enhanced pressure and temperature sensing performance. Its structural design consists of a multilayered composite construction with an elastic modulus gradient. Controlled stress concentration and distribution induced by a micropatterned structure between the layers improves its pressure and temperature sensing performance. The proposed composite sensor can monitor a wide range of pressure and temperature stimuli and also has potential applications as an automotive seat sensor for simultaneous human temperature detection and occupant weight sensing.
Highlights
We developed a flexible composite sensor with high pressure and temperature sensitivities owing to the multilayered structure design, which comprises an elastic modulus gradient with stress-concentrating geometries
To fabricate the conductive and temperature-responsive composite films, poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) was dissolved in an single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) solution at 70 ◦ C for 1 h, and the resulting solution was cooled to room temperature
The polymer pNIPAM was dissolved in a mixture of SWCNTs and PVA, using a magnetic stirrer, for 48 h
Summary
Rapid advances in flexible pressure sensors are driving interest in electronic skin [1,2,3,4], electronic textiles [5,6,7,8,9], flexible touch displays [10,11,12,13,14,15], soft robotics [16,17], and energy harvesting [18,19,20]. A highsensitivity, flexibility, sensing range, and durability are the major requirements for pressure sensors in various applications. Various micro-structured sensors have been suggested to enhance sensing characteristics such as sensitivity, response time, sensing range, and durability based on the mechanical and electrical properties of materials [29,30,31,32,33,34,35]. Despite their outstanding performance, these sensors are limited because they require complex and difficult-to-fabricate structures to enhance their sensing performance
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