A Flexible and Highly Sensitive Pressure Sensor Based on AgNWs/NRLF for Hand Motion Monitoring

Abstract

Flexible, highly sensitive, easy fabricating process, low-cost pressure sensors are the trend for flexible electronic devices. Inspired by the softness, comfortable, environmental friendliness and harmless of natural latex mattress, herein, we report an agile approach of constructing a flexible 3D-architectured conductive network by dip-coating silver nanowires (AgNWs) on the natural rubber latex foam (NRLF) substrate that provide the 3D micro-network structure as the skeleton. The variation of the contact transformed into the electrical signal among the conductive three-dimensional random networks during compressive deformation is the piezoresistive effect of AgNWs/NRLF pressure sensors. The resulting AgNWs/NRLF pressure sensors exhibit desirable electrical conductivity (0.45–0.50 S/m), excellent flexibility (58.57 kPa at 80% strain), good hydrophobicity (~128° at 5th dip-coated times) and outstanding repeatability. The AgNWs/NRLF sensors can be assembled on a glove to detect hand motion sensitively such as bending, touching and holding, show potential application such as artificial skin, human prostheses and health monitoring in multifunctional pressure sensors.

Advances in constructing silver nanowire-based conductive pathways for flexible and stretchable electronics

“…Then, the change of contacts among the conductive pathway upon deformation can transform into electrical responses to realize sensing purposes. 202 Different from the method of 3D printing of composite ink, the conductive layer coats the pre-formed 3D structures to form the conductive pathway. Li et al selected a 3D polyurethane (PU) sponge onto which AgNWs were deposited through the dip coating method.…”

“…The sensor shows not only a high electrical conductivity, but also an ultra-flexibility and repeatability. 202 Wei et al immersed a cotton sheet into an AgNW suspension several times to obtain a flexible pressure sensor. The results showed that the resistance of the cotton sheets was inversely related to the dip-coating cycle.…”

Polydopamine-Coated Natural Rubber Sponge for Highly Efficient Vapor Generation

“…NRS products are becoming more and more popular because of many advantages, such as high elasticity, vibration absorption, light weight, buoyancy, cushioning performance, thermal and acoustic insulation, inertness, high porosity, and good aging properties. NRS has a 3D channel structure, which can effectively improve the evaporation rate of the solar evaporator [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. In addition, the sponge has high mechanical stability and can be reused many times, which is conducive to reducing the cost.…”

“…In addition, the sponge has high mechanical stability and can be reused many times, which is conducive to reducing the cost. However, the sponge itself cannot effectively convert solar energy into heat, and water is difficult to convert into steam [ 33 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”

Enhancement of the Antibacterial Activity of Natural Rubber Latex Foam by Blending It with Chitin

“…Therefore, chitin could be considered an environmentally friendly antibacterial agent [25][26][27][28][29]. Most of the research on NRLF composites involves filler loading [30][31][32][33]. The focus is on exploring the mechanical properties of composite foams and emphasizing the reuse of natural fibers.…”