High-efficient flexible pressure sensor based on nanofibers and carbon nanotubes for artificial electronic skin and human motion monitoring

Flexible pressure sensor plays a crucial role in wearable devices since it converts the physical signals of human motions into electrical signals. Among various pressure sensors, foam-based pressure sensors received great attention due to their excellent flexibility, low weight, and pressure resistance. However, the sensitivity of the foam-based pressure sensor is still not large enough, and the sensing range is also urged to be further improved. Herein, we proposed a high-performance foam-based pressure sensor composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), and nanofibers (FIBER). The PDMS/FIBER@MWCNT foam-based pressure sensor possessed outstanding sensitivity up to 4.07 kPa− 1 and a wide sensing range of 0–70 kPa. The pressure sensor also presented excellent linearity during 0–20 kPa and 20–70 kPa, respectively. And 2000 cyclic compression tests shown good cyclic stability. Meanwhile, the pressure sensor worked efficiently in monitoring subtle and large human motions, such as finger bending, wrist bending, throat vocal signals, and various pressures. In addition, the pressure sensor owned significant discrimination and high efficiency against different pressure, which is beneficial in human complex motion monitoring and signal analysis of wearable devices. Consequently, the PDMS/FIBER@MWCNT foam-based pressure sensor may possess promising prospects and potential in the applications of artificial electrical skin and wearable devices.