Flexible Pressure Sensor with Micro-Structure Arrays Based on PDMS and PEDOT:PSS/PUD&CNTs Composite Film with 3D Printing

Yiwei Shao; Qi Zhang; Yulong Zhao; Xing Pang; Mingjie Liu; Dongliang Zhang; Xiaoya Liang

doi:10.3390/ma14216499

Materials (Oct 2021)

Flexible Pressure Sensor with Micro-Structure Arrays Based on PDMS and PEDOT:PSS/PUD&CNTs Composite Film with 3D Printing

Yiwei Shao,
Qi Zhang,
Yulong Zhao,
Xing Pang,
Mingjie Liu,
Dongliang Zhang,
Xiaoya Liang

Affiliations

Yiwei Shao: State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Qi Zhang: State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Yulong Zhao: State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Xing Pang: State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Mingjie Liu: State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Dongliang Zhang: State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Xiaoya Liang: State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14216499
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 21
p. 6499

Abstract

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Flexible pressure sensors are widely used in different fields, especially in human motion, robot monitoring and medical treatment. Herein, a flexible pressure sensor consists of the flat top plate, and the microstructured bottom plate is developed. Both plates are made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by molding from the 3D printed template. The contact surfaces of the top and bottom plates are coated with a mixture of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and polyurethane dispersion (PUD) as stretchable film electrodes with carbon nanotubes on the electrode surface. By employing 3D printing technology, using digital light processing (DLP), the fabrication of the sensor is low-cost and fast. The sensor models with different microstructures are first analyzed by the Finite Element Method (FEM), and then the models are fabricated and tested. The sensor with 5 × 5 hemispheres has a sensitivity of 3.54 × 10−3 S/kPa in the range of 0–22.2 kPa. The zero-temperature coefficient is −0.0064%FS/°C. The durability test is carried out for 2000 cycles, and it remains stable during the whole test. This work represents progress in flexible pressure sensing and demonstrates the advantages of 3D printing technology in sensor processing.

Published in Materials

ISSN: 1996-1944 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering; Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); Science: Natural history (General): Microscopy; Science: Physics: Descriptive and experimental mechanics
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/

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