Flexible and Multifunctional Pressure/Gas Sensors with Polypyrrole-Coated TPU Hierarchical Array

A promising strategy is proposed for fabricating flexible pressure/gas sensors, which have a microprotuberance and microwrinkle structure at micropillars on their sensing substrates. The sensing substrates were prepared by compression molding thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU; an industrial grade polymer) and subsequent pyrrole polymerization. Benefiting from the hierarchical structure on the sensing substrates, the flexible sensors exhibit high performances in detecting both pressure and ammonia (NH₃). Mechanism for the functionalities of the hierarchical structure of the pressure sensors was analyzed. Such unique hierarchical structure endows the interlocked pressure sensor by assembling the substrates prepared at 60 min polymerization time with a relatively high sensitivity in a wider linearity range (1.15 kPa^–1, 0–800 Pa), a lower detection limit of 6.2 Pa, and shorter response and recovery times (26/28 ms). The combination of stronger interfacial interaction between the TPU and polypyrrole layer, the mutual support of the interlocked micropillars, and the inherent high resilience of TPU endows the pressure sensor with lower hysteresis, good repeatability and stability, and higher durability (10,000 cycles). The interlocked pressure sensor can detect full-range human physiological activities from weak physiological signals (such as face muscle contraction, heartbeat, and breath) to body movements (such as head, elbow, and foot movement). The gas sensor assembled with the hierarchical sensing substrate prepared at 60 min polymerization time exhibits selective, stable, and faster sensing responses to NH₃. The proposed facile and cost-effective preparation strategy can be an excellent candidate for fabricating high-performance and multifunctional sensors.