A breathable flexible pressure sensor based on a porous network structure

Abstract

Wearable pressure sensors hold great application potential in electronic skin, personal health monitoring, motion detection, and artificial intelligence equipment, etc. As a wearable device, it requires not only good signal acquisition capabilities but also wearing comfort. Flexible and breathable are the two key desirable features for wearable sensors. However, presently, most of the wearable sensors made from impermeable polymers and metal electrodes lack breathability, although they can possess certain flexibility. Herein, we present a breathable and flexible pressure sensor, which is based on a multi-layer porous network structure, including a porous sensitive layer and mesh electrode layer. The porous skeleton decorated with functional nanomaterials enables the device not only flexibility but also great breathability. The fabricated pressure sensor shows a high sensitivity (2.1892 kPa⁻¹), a wide response range (30 kPa), rapid response time/recovery time (82 ms /83 ms), and excellent cycling stability (1000 cycles). Additionally, the new sensor proposed here has been applied to monitor human movements, such as finger tapping, finger bending, neck swallowing, wrist bending, and elbow bending, indicating its potential for applications in health monitoring and rehabilitation training.