Jellyfish-Inspired High-Sensitivity Pressure-Temperature Sensor

Abstract

In recent years, biomimetic high-sensitivity tactile sensors increasingly become a research focus. Specifically, hydrogel tactile sensors based on ionic-electronic mechanisms gain widespread attention due to their excellent pressure sensitivity. However, due to the saturation deformation of sensitive elements, these sensors struggle to accurately measure pressure under high-pressure conditions. Additionally, as hydrogels cause signal drift under constant pressure and ionic-electronic mechanisms are susceptible to temperature interference, these characteristics limit their application. Inspired by the jellyfish's “mesoglea” and “ectoderm” structures, a novel tactile sensor is developed that combines the ionic-electronic mechanism with a filling structure. This sensor integrates the hydrogel with a flexible framework to create a jellyfish-like umbrella structure. This design achieves extremely high pressure sensitivity and improves signal drift. By utilizing the different response characteristics of the capacitance and resistance values of a single sensing element to pressure and temperature changes, it enables simultaneous measurement of temperature and pressure, thereby enhancing its potential for application in wearable electronics and robotics.