Near-Hysteresis Free Ionic Conductive Elastomers with Long-Term Stability for Artificial Skin Applications

Abstract

With flexible robots' development, the requirements for highly stretchable sensors are getting higher and higher. At present, flexible sensors have been widely used in wearable electronic devices to obtain human physical parameters, such as wearable electronic devices, motion recognition, and healthcare. Though the measuring ability of sensitivity and range has been largely improved compared to the traditional ones, the hysteresis in the loading and unloading state has always limited these sensors' application, which negatively influences the sensors' reliability and accuracy. In this paper, through the combination of highly stretchable dielectric elastomer cross-linked with polar hydrophobic ionic liquid and polymerized under UV light, a highly sensitive and highly stretched sensor is prepared, reaching up to 10 times stretchability at most and maintaining a low hysteresis (2.5%). The investigated sensor showed a very short response time (100ms), adjustable conductivity. Combined with some of our structural innovations, we have used smart gloves, touch sensors, and other applications to prove this material's broad prospects in soft robots, motion detection, wearable devices, and medical care.