3D MXene/PEDOT:PSS Composite Aerogel with a Controllable Patterning Property for Highly Sensitive Wearable Physical Monitoring and Robotic Tactile Sensing

MXene based composite conductive aerogels have been extensively investigated as sensitive materials for wearable pressure sensors owing to their effective 3D network microstructures and the excellent conductivity of MXene. In this work, we fabricated a 3D porous Ti3C2Tx MXene/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) composite aerogel (MPCA) with a controllable patterning property utilizing the Cu-assisted electrogelation method. The prepared composite aerogel can be assembled into pressure sensors for wearable physical monitoring and high-resolution sensor microarrays for robotic tactile sensing. The multi-interactions between MXene and PEDOT:PSS enable the MPCA to have a stable 3D conductive network, which consequently enhances both the mechanical flexibility and the piezoresistive property of the MPCA. Thus, the fabricated pressure sensor demonstrating high sensitivity (26.65 kPa(-1) within 0-2 kPa), fast response ability (106 ms), and excellent stability can be further applied for wearable physical monitoring. Moreover, due to the controllable patterning property of the electrogelation preparation method, a high-resolution pressure sensor microarray was successfully prepared as an artificial tactile interface, which can be attached to a robotic fingertip to directly recognize the tactile stimuli from human fingers and identify braille letters like human fingers. The proposed MPCA, endowed with a remarkable comprehensive property, particularly the highly sensitive sensing performance and controllable patterning property, demonstrates an enormous advantage and a great potentiality toward wearable electronics.

Automated summary

MXene-based composite conductive aerogels have been extensively studied for wearable pressure sensors. In this work, a 3D porous Ti3C2Tx MXene/PEDOT:PSS composite aerogel was fabricated using the Cu-assisted electrogelation method. The fabricated pressure sensor demonstrated high sensitivity, fast response ability, and excellent stability. Additionally, a high-resolution pressure sensor microarray was successfully prepared, which can be attached to a robotic fingertip for tactile sensing.