Self-powered flexible battery pressure sensor based on gelatin

Abstract

The application of pressure sensors with excellent performance in medicine, flexible electronic skin, artificial intelligence, etc. has received much attention. However, most of the current pressure sensors have either the need for an external power supply or the difficulty of accurately measuring the static continuous signal, which greatly limit the development of sensor technology. We report a gelatin-based battery type pressure sensor in which a gelatin composite hydrogel membrane is introduced as the sensing layer in a zinc ion battery, and the zinc battery itself is designed as a pressure sensor. An isolation layer is also added to the solid zinc ion battery to realize the function of converting mechanical pressure signals to electrical signals more accurately. The gelatin battery pressure sensor designed in this paper has the advantages of being self-powered, high sensitivity (37.9 mV/kPa), wide pressure detection range (up to 524 kPa), good stability, short response/recovery time, and high biological applicability. In addition, the battery-type pressure sensor has the ability to detect static signals and maintain good performance under 10,000 s of external mechanical pressure. The design of this battery-based pressure sensor provides a new strategy for the development of self-powered pressure sensors and flexible electronic skin devices.