Ultrasensitive and Ultraprecise Pressure Sensors for Soft Systems

Highly sensitive soft pressure sensors have attracted tremendous attention in recent years due to their great promise in robotics, healthcare, smart wearables, etc. Although high sensitivities can be realized by existing sensing mechanisms, they usually cause large random errors owing to inhomogeneous sensing layers, thus considerably reducing the sensing precision for practical applications. Herein, a pure-polymer and field emission bilayer structure (PFEBS)-based transduction mechanism is presented to successfully design an ultrasensitive and ultraprecise soft pressure sensor for the first time. This unique structure enables numerous tunneling electrons generated by field emission to be transmitted through the homogeneous sensing layer, which undergoes uniform deformation under subtle pressures, simultaneously achieving a sensing precision with variation <1.62% and a sensitivity of 372.2 kPa(-1). This study offers a new design strategy to develop next-generation high-performance flexible pressure sensors for soft systems.

Automated summary

Highly sensitive soft pressure sensors have gained significant attention due to their potential applications in robotics, healthcare, and smart wearables. However, existing sensing mechanisms often result in large random errors, limiting their precision. In this study, a pure-polymer and field emission bilayer structure (PFEBS) is proposed to design an ultrasensitive and ultraprecise soft pressure sensor for the first time. The PFEBS enables uniform deformation of the sensing layer under subtle pressures, achieving a sensing precision with variation <1.62% and a sensitivity of 372.2 kPa(-1). This research offers a new design strategy for high-performance flexible pressure sensors.