Untraditional Deformation‐Driven Pressure Sensor with High Sensitivity and Ultra‐Large Sensing Range up to MPa Enables Versatile Applications

Abstract

AbstractA piezoresistive flexible pressure sensor with high sensitivity as well as ultra‐large sensing range up to MPa is proposed based on inelastic metallic microstructures and flat elastic polymer films. During the pressure loading process, the metallic microstructures continuously penetrate into the polymer film due to the rigid characteristic, resulting in continuous contact area variation and ultra‐large pressure sensing range of the pressure sensor. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) are introduced to construct flexible pressure sensors, achieving elastic modulus tunable sensing performance. The pressure sensors exhibit high sensitivity, superior sensing range (300 kPa for PDMS, 1.4 MPa for PVDF), ultra‐fast response time (≈3.5 ms) as well as high stability (>10 000 cycles), enabling potential applications in monitoring human vital signs, such as wrist pulse, human movements, and gait recognition. In addition, an acceleration sensor is constructed based on the as‐fabricated pressure sensor, which is utilized for extensive applications in action identification, virtual reality, and vehicle safety systems. This work provides an alternative strategy to construct high performance pressure sensors.