Nonlinearity synergy: An elegant strategy for realizing high-sensitivity and wide-linear-range pressure sensing.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37863948.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-42361-9 and PMC identifier 10589270.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Flexible pressure sensors are indispensable components in various applications such as intelligent robots and wearable devices, whereas developing flexible pressure sensors with both high sensitivity and wide linear range remains a great challenge. Here, we present an elegant strategy to address this challenge by taking advantage of a pyramidal carbon foam array as the sensing layer and an elastomer spacer as the stiffness regulator, realizing an unprecedentedly high sensitivity of 24.6 kPa<sup>-1</sup> and an ultra-wide linear range of 1.4 MPa together. Such a wide range of linearity is attributed to the synergy between the nonlinear piezoresistivity of the sensing layer and the nonlinear elasticity of the stiffness regulator. The great application potential of our sensor in robotic manipulation, healthcare monitoring, and human-machine interface is demonstrated. Our design strategy can be extended to the other types of flexible sensors calling for both high sensitivity and wide-range linearity, facilitating the development of high-performance flexible pressure sensors for intelligent robotics and wearable devices.