The fabrication of pressure sensors based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as the sensing material is challenging due to the intrinsic hydrophobic behavior of graphene oxide inks as well as the agglomeration of graphene oxide flakes after reduction. Hydrazine (a reducing agent) and a dual-component additive comprising benzisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone in appropriate proportion were used to synthesize a rGO ink with a hydrophilic nature. Utilizing this hydrophilic rGO ink mixed with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), a very simple, low-cost approach is demonstrated for the fabrication of a pressure sensor based on polyurethane (PU) foam coated with the MWNT-rGO ink (MWNT-rGO@PU foam). The MWNT-rGO@PU foam-based devices are shown to be versatile pressure sensors with the potential to detect both small-scale and large-scale movements. At low pressure (below 2.7 kPa, 50% strain), the formation of microcracks that scatter electrical charges results in a detectable increase in resistance suitable for detecting small-scale motion. At a higher pressure, the compressive contact of the coated faces of the PU foam results in a sharp decrease in resistance suitable for monitoring of large-scale motion. Moreover, these sensors exhibit good flexibility and reproducibility over 5000 cycles. The versatility of this sensor has been demonstrated in a wide range of applications, such as speech recognition, health monitoring, and body motion detection. The significant advantages of this sensor are that its cost is low, it is easy to fabricate, and it has a versatility that renders it favorable to health-monitoring applications.
Electronic skin sensors prepared from biocompatible and biodegradable polymeric materials significantly benefit the research and scientific community, as they can reduce the amount of effort required for e-waste management by deteriorating or dissolving into the environment without pollution. Herein, we report the use of polylactic acid (PLA)a promising plant-based bioplasticand highly transparent, conductive, biocompatible, and flexible poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) materials to fabricate kirigami-based stretchable on-skin electrophysiological sensors via a low-cost and rapid laser cutting technique. The sensor stack with PEDOT:PSS and PLA layers exhibited high transparency (>85%) in the wavelength range of 400–700 nm and stay attached conformally to the skin for several hours without adverse effects. The Y-shaped kirigami motifs inspired by the microcracked gold film endowed the sensor with attributes such as high areal coverage (∼85%), breathability (∼40 g m–2 h–1), and multidirectional stretchability. The sensor has been successfully applied to monitor electrophysiological signals and demonstrated with an eye movement-supported communication interface for controlling home electronic appliances.
Smart electronic textiles are gaining a lot of importance in the field of flexible and wearable devices because of their lightweight, flexibility, deformability, and facile interaction with human skin. Herein, a simple, inexpensive, and scalable dip‐dry‐reduce approach method is reported to fabricate a flexible strain sensor using polyester knitted elastic band (PEB) as the platform material which is coated with reduced graphene oxide, and its potential applications are demonstrated in detecting both the subtle and large‐scale deformations of the human body. PEB is made by knitting polyester yarn around a series of inner rubber cores, which makes it very versatile, lightweight, and shrink and wear resistant. The strain sensor can detect the small strains down to 0.2% with high sensitivity/gauge factor (GF) of 30 within in a strain range of 0–1%, and also shows excellent performance in terms of sensitivity (GF of 34 and 5 within in a strain range of 0–20%, 20–50%, respectively), negligible drift, stability, and durability over 6000 cycles. Moreover, the strain sensor can sense and record large‐scale human body motion even under water‐immersed condition and also exhibits negative temperature coefficient effect with a temperature coefficient of resistance of 0.677%°C−1.
In this paper, we have demonstrated the dual role of boron doping in enhancing the device performance parameters as well as the device stability in low temperatures (200 °C) sol-gel processed ZnO thin film transistors (TFTs). Our studies suggest that boron is able to act as a carrier generator and oxygen vacancy suppressor simultaneously. Boron-doped ZnO TFTs with 8 mol. % of boron concentration demonstrated field-effect mobility value of 1.2 cm2 V−1 s−1 and threshold voltage of 6.2 V, respectively. Further, these devices showed lower shift in threshold voltage during the hysteresis and bias stress measurements as compared to undoped ZnO TFTs.
Physiological monitoring through skin patch stretchable devices has received extensive attention because of their significant findings in many human–machine interaction applications. In this paper, we present novel nature-inspired, kiri-spider, serpentine structural designs to sustain mechanical deformations under complex stress environments. Strain-free mechanical structures involving stable high areal coverage (spiderweb), three-dimensional out-of-plane deformations (kirigami), and two-dimensional (2D) stretchable (2D spring) electrodes demonstrated high levels of mechanical loading under various strains, which were verified through theoretical and experimental studies. Alternative to conventional microfabrication procedures, sensors fabricated by a facile and rapid benchtop programmable laser machine enabled the realization of low-cost, high-throughput manufacture, followed by transferring procedures with a nearly 100% yield. For the first time, we demonstrated laser-processed thin (∼10 μm) flexible filamentary patterns embedded within the solution-processed polyimide to make it compatible with current flexible printed circuit board electronics. A patch-based sensor with thin, breathable, and sticky nature exhibited remarkable water permeability >20 g h–1 m–2 at a thickness of 250 μm. Moreover, the reusability of the sensor patch demonstrated the significance of our patch-based electrophysiological sensor. Furthermore, this wearable sensor was successfully implemented to control human–machine interfaces to operate home electronic appliances and monitor mental stress in a pilot study. These advances in novel mechanical architectures with good sensing performances provide new opportunities in wearable smart sensors.
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