Humidity Sensor Composed of Laser-Induced Graphene Electrode and Graphene Oxide for Monitoring Respiration and Skin Moisture

Abstract

Respiratory rate and skin humidity are important physiological signals and have become an important basis for disease diagnosis, and they can be monitored by humidity sensors. However, it is difficult to employ high-quality humidity sensors on a broad scale due to their high cost and complex fabrication. Here, we propose a reliable, convenient, and efficient method to mass-produce humidity sensors. A capacitive humidity sensor is obtained by ablating a polyimide (PI) film with a picosecond laser to produce an interdigital electrode (IDE), followed by drop-casting graphene oxide (GO) as a moisture-sensitive material on the electrode. The sensor has long-time stability, a wide relative humidity (RH) detection range from 10% to 90%, and high sensitivity (3862 pF/%RH). In comparison to previous methods, the technology avoids the complex procedures and expensive costs of conventional interdigital electrode preparation. Furthermore, we discuss the effects of the electrode gap size and the amount of graphene oxide on humidity sensor performance, analyze the humidity sensing mechanism by impedance spectrum, and finally perform the monitoring of human respiratory rate and skin humidity change in a non-contact manner.

Keywords

• laser-induced graphene
• humidity sensors
• respiration monitoring
• graphene oxide
• interdigital electrode