Abstract
Inkjet printing is an advanced printing technology that has been used to develop conducting layers, interconnects and other features on a variety of substrates. It is an additive manufacturing process that offers cost-effective, lightweight designs and simplifies the fabrication process with little effort. There is hardly sufficient research on tactile sensors and inkjet printing. Advancements in materials science and inkjet printing greatly facilitate the realization of sophisticated tactile sensors. Starting from the concept of capacitive sensing, a brief comparison of printing techniques, the essential requirements of inkjet-printing and the attractive features of state-of-the art inkjet-printed tactile sensors developed on diverse substrates (paper, polymer, glass and textile) are presented in this comprehensive review. Recent trends in inkjet-printed wearable/flexible and foldable tactile sensors are evaluated, paving the way for future research.
Highlights
It is predicted that by 2018 consumers will be using 1.8 billion units of smart phones and 447 million tablets, which shows the great demand for touch screens [1]
We presented the salient features of inkjet-printed tactile sensors using various substrates
Note: Several inkjet-printed capacitive tactile sensors developed on various substrates have been discussed in section 3 of this review article, only those articles for this table have been selected, which provide the value of resistance/resistivity
Summary
It is predicted that by 2018 consumers will be using 1.8 billion units of smart phones and 447 million tablets, which shows the great demand for touch screens [1]. The applications of tactile sensing include the capacitive Windows button on the Microsoft Surface Pro, touch screens (mobiles, television, tablets and notepads) and interactive boards. Piezoelectric materials (e.g., quartz) are non-conductive materials which generate charges proportionally to the applied-force to the sensor [6]. Their fast and linear response make them useful for dynamic force sensing [6]. Available capacitive touch sensors such as RoboTouch, DigiTacts (Pressure Profile Systems 2007), DiamondTouch (Circle Twelve Inc., Framingham, MA, USA, 2008), Touche (Disney Research 2012) and iPodtouch (Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA, USA., 2008) are famous products/patents that use the capacitive touch-sensing mechanism [8]. Being bulky and expensive, they are not attractive
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