Highly stable flexible pressure sensors with a quasi-homogeneous composition and interlinked interfaces

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Robotics
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Electronic skins (e-skins) enable robots to sense mechanical stimuli but often fail under stress due to weak interlayer adhesion.
• Existing e-skins struggle with mechanical mismatch and delamination in multilayered structures, limiting their practical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a flexible pressure sensor with significantly improved interfacial toughness and mechanical stability.
• To address the limitations of current e-skins in handling extreme mechanical conditions and ensure reliable sensing performance.

Main Methods:

• Engineered quasi-homogeneous composition for interlayer mechanical matching.
• Created an interlinked microconed interface to achieve high interfacial toughness (390 J·m⁻²).
• Tested sensor durability through 100,000 rubbing cycles and 2.6 km of driving on a car tread.

Main Results:

• Achieved exceptional signal stability in the flexible pressure sensor under rigorous testing.
• Demonstrated high interfacial toughness, preventing failure under extreme mechanical stress.
• Validated the sensor's resilience through extensive cyclic and real-world driving tests.

Conclusions:

• The developed tough interface strategy significantly enhances the durability and reliability of electronic skins.
• This technology offers a pathway for seamless integration of highly stable sensors into soft robots for complex manipulation tasks.