Abstract
The flexible tactile sensor has attracted widespread attention because of its great flexibility, high sensitivity, and large workable range. It can be integrated into clothing, electronic skin, or mounted on to human skin. Various nanostructured materials and nanocomposites with high flexibility and electrical performance have been widely utilized as functional materials in flexible tactile sensors. Polymer nanomaterials, representing the most promising materials, especially polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), PVDF co-polymer and their nanocomposites with ultra-sensitivity, high deformability, outstanding chemical resistance, high thermal stability and low permittivity, can meet the flexibility requirements for dynamic tactile sensing in wearable electronics. Electrospinning has been recognized as an excellent straightforward and versatile technique for preparing nanofiber materials. This review will present a brief overview of the recent advances in PVDF nanofibers by electrospinning for flexible tactile sensor applications. PVDF, PVDF co-polymers and their nanocomposites have been successfully formed as ultrafine nanofibers, even as randomly oriented PVDF nanofibers by electrospinning. These nanofibers used as the functional layers in flexible tactile sensors have been reviewed briefly in this paper. The β-phase content, which is the strongest polar moment contributing to piezoelectric properties among all the crystalline phases of PVDF, can be improved by adjusting the technical parameters in electrospun PVDF process. The piezoelectric properties and the sensibility for the pressure sensor are improved greatly when the PVDF fibers become more oriented. The tactile performance of PVDF composite nanofibers can be further promoted by doping with nanofillers and nanoclay. Electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) nanofiber mats used for the 3D pressure sensor achieved excellent sensitivity, even at 0.1 Pa. The most significant enhancement is that the aligned electrospun core-shell P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers exhibited almost 40 times higher sensitivity than that of pressure sensor based on thin-film PVDF.
Highlights
With the explosive development of science and technology, widespread attention has been paid to tactile sensors on both the research and applied technology fields [1,2]
Various nanostructured materials [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18] and nanocomposites [19,20,21,22] with high flexibility and electrical performance have been widely utilized as functional materials and the rigid substrates have been replaced by flexible substrates including polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which has promoted the development of flexible tactile sensors
The most significant enhancement is that the aligned electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) core–shell nanofibers were fabricated and exhibited almost 40 times higher sensitivity than that of a pressure sensor based on thin-film polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
Summary
With the explosive development of science and technology, widespread attention has been paid to tactile sensors on both the research and applied technology fields [1,2]. The nanofiber materials of PVDF, PVDF co-polymers and their nanocomposites, even randomly oriented PVDF nanofibers, have been successfully fabricated [33] and used for the functional layer of flexible tactile sensors with excellent performance. Most PVDF nanofiber-based tactile sensors have a common mechanism working by piezoelectricity. The most significant enhancement is that the aligned electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) core–shell nanofibers were fabricated and exhibited almost 40 times higher sensitivity than that of a pressure sensor based on thin-film PVDF. Both PVDF nanocomposite (such as PVDF/Ag and PVDF/PPy) and P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers by electrospinning show excellent pressure-sensor performance while working by the mechanism of piezoresistivity
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
