Ultra-sensitive graphene strain sensor for sound signal acquisition and recognition

Abstract

A wearable and high-precision sensor for sound signal acquisition and recognition was fabricated from thin films of specially designed graphene woven fabrics (GWFs). Upon being stretched, a high density of random cracks appears in the network, which decreases the current pathways, thereby increasing the resistance. Therefore, the film could act as a strain sensor on the human throat in order to measure one’s speech through muscle movement, regardless of whether or not a sound is produced. The ultra-high sensitivity allows for the realization of rapid and low-frequency speech sampling by extracting the signature characteristics of sound waves. In this study, representative signals of 26 English letters, typical Chinese characters and tones, and even phrases and sentences were tested, revealing obvious and characteristic changes in resistance. Furthermore, resistance changes of the graphene sensor responded perfectly with pre-recorded sounds. By combining artificial intelligence with digital signal processing, we expect that, in the future, this graphene sensor will be able to successfully negotiate complex acoustic systems and large quantities of audio data.