Flexible capacitive sensor based on 2D-titanium dioxide nanosheets/bacterial cellulose composite film

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Biomaterials Engineering

Background:

• Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a flexible biomaterial with potential for electronic applications.
• Enhancing the dielectric properties of BC is crucial for developing advanced capacitive sensors.
• Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanomaterials offer tunable dielectric properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To incorporate titanium dioxide nanosheets (Ti0.91O2 NSs) into bacterial cellulose (BC) films.
• To tune the dielectric properties of BC while preserving its flexibility.
• To develop flexible and low-cost capacitive sensors for monitoring human motion.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of composite films by incorporating Ti0.91O2 NSs into BC.
• Characterization of the dielectric properties of the composite materials.
• Evaluation of the sensing performance of the fabricated BC-based capacitive sensors.

Main Results:

• Incorporation of Ti0.91O2 NSs significantly improved the dielectric constant of BC films.
• The composite sensors exhibited high sensing performance (∼2.44 × 10-3 kPa-1) at low Ti0.91O2 NSs content (3 vol%).
• The fabricated sensors demonstrated stable operation and robustness for monitoring simple human motions.

Conclusions:

• A viable route for preparing flexible and low-cost BC composite paper for capacitive sensing was established.
• The strategy enhances dielectric and sensing properties of BC, paving the way for wearable electronics.
• The developed materials are suitable for biocompatible, eco-friendly, and low-cost wearable electronic applications.