High-Performance Paper-Based Capacitive Flexible Pressure Sensor and Its Application in Human-Related Measurement

Abstract

Flexible pressure sensors (FPS) have shown wide applications in artificial robotics, wearable devices, electronic skins, and biomedical systems; however, complicated procedures like micromachining and micromolding are often involved to achieve high performance of the sensor. In this work, a novel capacitive FPS was prepared by using silver nanowire (AgNW)-paper substrates as electrodes and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as dielectrics, and results revealed that the sensitivity and dynamic range of the as-prepared sensor were 1.05 kPa−1 and 1 Pa to 2 kPa, respectively, which were comparable to the state-of-the-art ones; practical application measurements further indicated that the capacitive FPS was capable of detecting bending, finger tap, and human speech as well as identifying object profile; therefore, it shows good potential for applying in artificial skin and wearable devices.