Flexible Nanofiber Pressure Sensors with Hydrophobic Properties for Wearable Electronics

In recent years, flexible pressure sensors have received considerable attention for their potential applications in health monitoring and human-machine interfaces. However, the development of flexible pressure sensors with excellent sensitivity performance and a variety of advantageous characteristics remains a significant challenge. In this paper, a high-performance flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor, BC/ZnO, is developed with a sensitive element consisting of bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibrous aerogel modified by ZnO nanorods. The BC/ZnO pressure sensor exhibits excellent mechanical and hydrophobic properties, as well as a high sensitivity of -15.93 kPa^-1 and a wide range of detection pressure (0.3-20 kPa), fast response (300 ms), and good cyclic durability (>1000). Furthermore, the sensor exhibits excellent sensing performance in real-time monitoring of a wide range of human behaviors, including mass movements and subtle physiological signals.