Stacked 1D Tellurium Nanowires/Paper based Pressure Sensor with Laser Assisted Patterned PDMS Encapsulation

Abstract

In last two decades, significant research has been done on the development of largescale, flexible, wearable, and multifunctional sensors. In this regard, flexible and wearable pressure sensors have gained enormous interest in various applications. This work demonstrates the fabrication of flexible, wearable, and cost-effective pressure sensor based on one dimensional (1D) tellurium nanowires (Te-NWs) deposited on cellulose paper substrate. Te-NWs synthesized using a facile solution process method and flowed by the dip-coating of Te-NWs on paper substrates. The device is prepared by stacking three Te-NWs/ coated papers and made contacts on top and bottom. To improve the flexibility and sensitivity of the device, it is encapsulated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films with micropyramid structures prepared using laser engraved acrylic mould. The fabricated pressure sensor exhibited a sensitivity of ~ 4.17 kPa <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−1</sup> for the range 500 Pa to 2.5 kPa and~ 1.42 kPa <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−1</sup> for above 2.5 kPa. The fabricated pressure sensor shows great potential for real-time applications in personal health monitoring and human-machine interfacing.