Skin-Inspired Textile Electronics Enable Ultrasensitive Pressure Sensing.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Wearable Electronics

Background:

• Wearable pressure sensors are crucial for healthcare and human-machine interaction.
• Achieving high sensitivity, low detection limits, fast response, and breathability simultaneously remains a challenge.
• Microstructure construction on porous substrates for sensors is difficult.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate a biomimetic flexible pressure sensor inspired by human skin's spinosum microstructure.
• To achieve high sensitivity, fast response, low detection limit, and good breathability in a wearable sensor.
• To enable real-time human motion detection for biomedical monitoring and diagnosis.

Main Methods:

• Assembled MXene-based sensing and interdigitated electrodes.
• Fabricated a sensor mimicking the spinosum microstructure of human skin.
• Evaluated sensor performance including sensitivity, response time, detection limit, linearity, and air permeability.

Main Results:

• The biomimetic sensor demonstrated excellent flexibility and air permeability (165.6 mm s⁻¹).
• Achieved ultrahigh sensitivity (1368.9 kPa⁻¹), ultrafast response (20 ms), and a low detection limit (1 Pa).
• Exhibited high linearity (R² = 0.997) and real-time human motion detection capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The bionic intermittent structure provides a two-stage amplification effect, enhancing sensor performance.
• This sensor technology is suitable for intimate skin contact and real-time monitoring.
• The developed principle lays the foundation for human skin-like tactile sensors with superior performance.