Highly piezoresistive compliant nanofibrous sensors for tactile and epidermal electronic applications
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Amir Servati Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada; and Department of Materials Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
Rowshan Rahmanian Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
Frank Ko Department of Materials Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
Peyman Servatia) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada (Received 29 June 2014; accepted 21 October 2014)
Soft, sensitive, and conformable strain sensors can provide tactile sensation to prosthetic limbs and can be used for epidermal and wearable health monitoring. High strain sensitivity is often achieved by using piezoelectric ceramics, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), with known issues for large-area scalability, rigidity, and biocompatibility. Here, we report a nature-inspired, piezoresistive, soft, and benign core–shell nanofibrous sensor that exhibits an unprecedented gauge factor in excess of 60, arising from a reversible disjointing/jointing of a large number of interfiber junctions, consequently changing the current path and resistance in response to both tensile and compressive strains. Nanofiber textile sensor arrays are demonstrated with fast, low-voltage, accurate, and repeatable sensing over 1000 cycles for epidermal monitoring of limb and musculoskeletal movements and radial pulse waveform, for real-time monitoring of simulated intermittent Parkinson’s tremors, and for biaxial tactile sensing and localization of point of touch.
I. INTRODUCTION
Stretchable strain sensors can unfold opportunities in such diverse applications as flexible touch panels, structural health monitoring, and electronic skins.1 Compliant and conformable strain sensors emulating the tactile sensation are indispensable in realizing epidermal and wearable electronics. Such sensors can be used for accurate monitoring of health signs extracted from hardly visible movements of tissues and limbs and provide tactile sensation to brain-chip-controlled prosthetic limbs. For wearable electronics, strain sensors must have attributes such as conformability, stretchability, large-area scalability, high gauge factor, and fast response. Piezoelectric ceramic films, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), provide high gauge factors,2,3 but have known issues for a)
Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/jmr.2014.361 J. Mater. Res., Vol. 30, No. 1, Jan 14, 2015
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large-area processability, rigidity, and bioincompatibility. While high piezoelectric coefficients are reported for single nanowires (NWs) and nanotubes (NTs),4,5 practical large scale meshes of carbon NTs6–14 and NWs15 and composites of NTs,16–20 graphene,21 and carbon particles22,23
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