Abstract
Tactile/touch sensing is essential in developing human-machine interfacing and electronic skins for areas such as automation, security, and medical care. Here, we report a self-powered triboelectric sensor based on flexible thin-film materials. It relies on contact electrification to generate a voltage signal in response to a physical contact without using an external power supply. Enabled by the unique sensing mechanism and surface modification by polymer-nanowires, the triboelectric sensor shows an exceptional pressure sensitivity of 44 mV/Pa (0.09% Pa-1) and a maximum touch sensitivity of 1.1 V/Pa (2.3% Pa-1) in the extremely low-pressure region (<0.15 KPa). Through integration of the sensor with a signal-processing circuit, a complete tactile sensing system is further developed. Diverse applications of the system are demonstrated, explicitly indicating a variety of immediate uses in human-electronics interface, automatic control, surveillance, remote operation, and security systems.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3208-3213 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Nano Letters |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Jun 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Contact electrification
- flexible electronics
- self-powered electronics
- tactile sensing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Bioengineering
- General Chemistry
- General Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanical Engineering