Self-powered flexible antibacterial tactile sensor based on triboelectric-piezoelectric-pyroelectric multi-effect coupling mechanism

Tactile sensors have attracted great interest due to the huge potential applications. Skin-like multifunctional capabilities to sense multiple stimuli are increasingly desired to fulfill practical demands. Integration of multiple sensors with different functions is the most common approach, but requiring sophisticated fabricated processes. Here, a self-powered flexible antibacterial tactile sensor has been proposed which is based on triboelectricpiezoelectric-pyroelectric multi-effect coupling mechanism. The triboelectric-piezoelectric-pyroelectric multi-effect is utilized to differentiate external stimuli by analyzing the coupled bimodal voltage signal with response time difference. It permits multifunctional sensing in a single pixel, which can greatly reduce the structural complexity. The sensitivity of pressure and temperature monitoring is 0.092 V/KPa and 0.11 V/degrees C, respectively. Besides, it can operate without any external power attributing to the sensing mechanisms. Furthermore, the sensor performs excellent antibacterial property by doping Ag nanowires into the contact layer. This work can become promising candidate in soft robotics, artificial prosthetics and healthcare monitors by virtue of multifunctional, self-powered, antibacterial and easy-fabrication merits.