Highly Sensitive and Ultrastable Skin Sensors for Biopressure and Bioforce Measurements Based on Hierarchical...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Piezoresistive microsensors are crucial for wearable electronics but face challenges like high cost and complex fabrication.
• Existing sensors often suffer from poor stability and low manufacturing yields, hindering practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a cost-effective, simple, and high-yield fabrication method for highly sensitive and stable piezoresistive sensors.
• To utilize a bioinspired hierarchically structured graphite/polydimethylsiloxane composite for enhanced sensor performance.

Main Methods:

• A bioinspired hierarchical structure was created using commercially available sandpaper as a mold.
• A graphite/polydimethylsiloxane composite was employed as the active layer for the piezoresistive sensors.

Main Results:

• The fabricated sensors demonstrated ultrahigh sensitivity (64.3 kPa⁻¹), a fast response time (<8 ms), and a low limit of detection (0.9 Pa).
• The devices exhibited excellent long-term durability (>100,000 cycles) and ambient stability (>1 year).

Conclusions:

• The developed fabrication approach offers a promising solution for practical, low-cost piezoresistive sensors.
• The sensors show significant potential for real-time healthcare monitoring (e.g., pulse sensing) and robotic tactile sensing.