Ridge-structured PANI with interfacial stress-concentrating: reversible protonation driven high sensitivity over wide...

In research on pressure-sensitive electronic skin (e-skin) for motion and physiological signal monitoring, balancing sensitivity with a broad pressure-sensing range and intelligent sensing capabilities is of critical importance. Inspired by the micro-ridge of human skin, this work integrates a bionic micro-ridge structure with a PANI-based resistivity modulation strategy to develop an e-skin that enables both high sensitivity and a wide pressure-sensing range for motion and physiological signals monitoring. Ridge-structured PANI was grown in-situ on hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile fibers via chemical oxidative polymerization. By utilizing the reversible protonation-deprotonation mechanism of PANI in combination with a pH modulation strategy, we adjusted the resistivity of the PANI nanofibrous films to investigate the impact on sensing performance. The synergistic effects of ridge-structured PANI, resistivity modulation and micro-deformation effect of the nanofibrous films enabled the e-skin to exhibit a high sensitivity (maximum 1.91 kPa^-1) and a wide pressure-sensing range (1-600 kPa). The e-skin can accurately and stably monitor a wide range of signals, ranging from subtle throat vibrations during phonation and gentle abdominal undulations caused by breathing, to larger plantar pressure changes during walking or running. Furthermore, we combined the e-skin with a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D CNN, PyTorch-based), enabling rapid and accurate classification of four typical respiratory states (Normal breathing, Rapid breathing, Deep breathing, and Apnea). This work, especially the combination of bionic micro-nano structures and resistivity modulation strategy, provides new insights for the development of pressure-sensitive e-skins with excellent sensing performance.