Wearable nanofibrous tactile sensors with fast response and wireless communication

Abstract

Flexible tactile sensors with high sensitivity and superior stability have captured considerable research interests recently owing to their promising applications in electronic skin and human–machine interfaces. Herein, a hybrid nanofibrous tactile sensor is developed through the co-electrospinning of TPU/PAN/F127 (TPF) nanofibers and subsequent wrapping of mono-layered Ti3C2Tx flakes. It is proved that the blending of PAN and F127 can significantly improve the fiber uniformity and the interfacial interaction between the fibrous matrix and MXene, leading to the stable and uniform incorporation of the highly conductive Ti3C2Tx flakes. Obtained flexible MXene/TPU/PAN/F127 (MTPF) nanofibrous membrane with interconnected 3D conducting networks manifests a high sensitivity (0.2082 kPa−1), a wide working range (0–160 kPa), rapid response/recovery times (60 ms/120 ms), and long-term durability (8000 cycles) when utilized as an on-skin tactile sensor, which is also assembled into a wearable wireless sensor for the accurate and real-time detection of various human activity signals, evidencing its great potential in high-performance wearable sensory electronics.