Melamine Foam Functionalized with a Plastic-Crystal Electrolyte for Advanced Iontronic Pressure Sensors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Sensor Technology
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Foam-based iontronic pressure sensors (IPSs) offer high sensitivity but suffer from ion leakage and limited compressibility.
• These limitations hinder their stability and operational pressure range for practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel iontronic pressure sensor with improved stability, sensitivity, and a broader pressure range.
• To address the challenges of ion leakage and structural compressibility in existing foam-based IPSs.

Main Methods:

• A novel ionic plastic-crystal electrolyte (PCE) was incorporated into a polymeric melamine foam (MF) skeleton to create an ionic dielectric layer.
• The structural and electrical properties of the resulting MF/PCE composite were characterized.

Main Results:

• The MF/PCE sensor demonstrated high sensitivity (0.16 kPa⁻¹ up to 1.0 MPa) and maintained sensitivity (0.08 kPa⁻¹ up to 2.8 MPa).
• The sensor exhibited excellent durability (>8300 cycles) without ion leakage or detachment, owing to the solid-state PCE and MF compatibility.
• Successful application in assessing yoga pose accuracy and detecting plantar pressure distributions was shown.

Conclusions:

• The developed MF/PCE sensor overcomes key limitations of previous iontronic pressure sensors.
• This technology offers a promising, cost-effective solution for real-time human motion detection and sports performance monitoring.