A Potentiometric Electronic Skin for Thermosensation and Mechanosensation

Electronic skins (e-skins) that mimic the thermosensation and mechanosensation functionalities of natural skin are highly desired for the emerging fields of prosthetics and robotics. Advances in the materials and architecture of e-skins have been made; nevertheless, sensing mechanism innovations are rarely explored. Here, inspired by the skin sensory behaviors, a single potentiometric sensing scheme for both thermosensation and mechanosensation functionalities are presented. Through careful materials selection, component optimization, and structure configuration, the coupling effect between thermosensation and mechanosensation can be significantly minimized. Such a potentiometric sensing scheme enables one to create a new class of energy-efficient e-skin with distinctive characteristics that are highly analogous to those of natural human skin. The e-skin reported here features ultralow power consumption (at nanowatt level), greatly simplified operation (only voltage output), ultrahigh sensitivity (non-contact sensing capability), all-solution-processing fabrication, and, more importantly, good capability for simultaneous monitoring/mapping of both thermal and mechanical stimulations. In addition to proposing a new sensory mechanism, integration of the dual-functional e-skin with a soft robotic gripper for object manipulation is demonstrated. The presented concise yet efficient sensing scheme for both thermosensation and mechanosensation opens up previously unexplored avenues for the future design of skin prosthetics, humanoid robotics, and wearable electronics.

Automated summary

This study presents a new type of electronic skin for both thermosensation and mechanosensation functionalities, with minimized coupling effect between thermal and mechanical sensing through careful materials selection and structure configuration. This e-skin features ultralow power consumption, simplified operation, ultrahigh sensitivity, all-solution-processing fabrication, and simultaneous monitoring/mapping of both thermal and mechanical stimulations.