Flexible Tactile Sensor Based on Patterned Ag-Nanofiber Electrodes through Electrospinning

The growing demand for intelligent equipment has greatly inspired the development of flexible devices. Thus, disparate flexible multifunctional devices, including pressure sensitive flexible/stretchable displays, have drawn worldwide research attention. Electrodes maintaining conductivity and mechan...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors
Main Authors: Mengxiao Chen, Zhe Wang, Yu Zheng, Qichong Zhang, Bing He, Jiao Yang, Miao Qi, Lei Wei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2413
Description
Summary:The growing demand for intelligent equipment has greatly inspired the development of flexible devices. Thus, disparate flexible multifunctional devices, including pressure sensitive flexible/stretchable displays, have drawn worldwide research attention. Electrodes maintaining conductivity and mechanical strength against deformations are indispensable components in all prospective applications. In this work, a flexible pressure mapping sensor array is developed based on patterned Ag-nanofibers (Ag-NFs) electrode through electrospinning and lithography. The metallic Ag layer is sputtered onto the electrospinning polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) NFs. A uniform and super conductive electrode layer with outstanding mechanical performance is thus formed after dissolving PVA. Followed by the traditional lithography method, a patterned electrode array (4 × 4 sensors) is obtained. Based on the newly developed triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) technology, a flexible pressure-mapping sensor with excellent stability towards bending deformations is further demonstrated. Moreover, a letter “Z” is successfully visualized by this pressure sensor array, encouraging more human–machine interactive implementations, such as multi-functional tactile screens.
ISSN:1424-8220