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Research Article | Open Access

Advancing the pressure sensing performance of conductive CNT/PDMS composite film by constructing a hierarchical-structured surface

Ye Zhaoa,1, Taoyu Shena,1, Minyue Zhanga, Rui Yina,b, Yanjun Zhenga( ), Hu Liua( ), Hongling Suna, Chuntai Liua( ), Changyu Shena
Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold (Zhengzhou University), Ministry of Education, National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450002, China
China Astronaut Research and Training Center, Beijing, 100094, China

1 These authors contributed equally to this work.

Show Author Information

Abstract

Flexible pressure sensors have attracted wide attention due to their applications to electronic skin, health monitoring, and human-machine interaction. However, the tradeoff between their high sensitivity and wide response range remains a challenge. Inspired by human skin, we select commercial silicon carbide sandpaper as a template to fabricate carbon nanotube (CNT)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite film with a hierarchical structured surface (h-CNT/PDMS) through solution blending and blade coating and then assemble the h-CNT/PDMS composite film with interdigitated electrodes and polyurethane (PU) scotch tape to obtain an h-CNT/PDMS-based flexible pressure sensor. Based on in-situ optical images and finite element analysis, the significant compressive contact effect between the hierarchical structured surface of h-CNT/PDMS and the interdigitated electrode leads to enhanced pressure sensitivity and a wider response range (0.1661 ​kPa−1, 0.4574 ​kPa−1 and 0.0989 ​kPa−1 in the pressure range of 0–18 ​kPa, 18–133 ​kPa and 133–300 ​kPa) compared with planar CNT/PDMS composite film (0.0066 ​kPa−1 in the pressure range of 0–240 ​kPa). The prepared pressure sensor displays rapid response/recovery time, excellent stability, durability, and stable response to different loading modes (bending and torsion). In addition, our pressure sensor can be utilized to accurately monitor and discriminate various stimuli ranging from human motions to pressure magnitude and spatial distribution. This study supplies important guidance for the fabrication of flexible pressure sensors with superior sensing performance in next-generation wearable electronic devices.

Keywords

Carbon nanotubesHierarchical structureElectronic skinFlexible pressure sensorPolydimethylsiloxane

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Nano Materials Science
Volume 5 Issue 4,
December 2023
Pages 343-350
DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoms.2021.10.002
Cite this article:
Zhao Y, Shen T, Zhang M, et al. Advancing the pressure sensing performance of conductive CNT/PDMS composite film by constructing a hierarchical-structured surface. Nano Materials Science, 2023, 5(4): 343-350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoms.2021.10.002

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Received: 01 August 2021
Accepted: 01 October 2021
Published: 04 January 2022
© 2021 Chongqing University.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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