Triboelectric UV patterning for wearable one-terminal tactile sensor array to perceive dynamic contact motions

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted intensive attention for the self-powered tactile signalling because strong potential signals are generated even by weak mechanical stimuli. The TENG-based sensors typically request one or two interconnecting wires in each pixel, hence a large number of interconnections are necessary to acquire multiple position information. Here, we introduce innovative triboelectric UV patterning on a single stretchable elastomer dielectric film and fabricate a position-encoded tactile sensor requiring only one interconnection line. We investigate controllable change of triboelectric potentials simply adjustable by UV irradiation time on saturated thermoplastic block copolymers. The one-terminal triboelectrically-patterned tactile sensor (TPTS) perceives the position and time of dynamic contact motions such as sliding, ball rolling, sequential or simultaneous touches, and grasping. We believe that this study will pave the way for the novel design of self-powered tactile sensors for various applications such as artificial skin.