Pre-fatigue enhancing both long-term stability and sensitivity of direct-ink-writing printed sensors

The direct-ink-writing printed sensors possess high sensitivity and large stretchability. However, whether the high performance of these sensors keeps stable under fatigue loads is crucial but still undetermined. Here we develop the testing techniques and report performance evolution of the printed sensors under different strain ranges of 0.5-3.27% up to 105 cycles. It is found that the sensor sensitivity is enhanced by one order of magnitude through applying fatigue strain with moderate levels, accompanying improved stability in the subsequent fatigue testing. These insights may contribute to the ongoing search for long-term stable and sensitive sensors for engineering applications.

Automated summary

This study develops testing techniques and investigates the performance evolution of direct-ink-writing printed sensors under different strain ranges. The results show that moderate fatigue strain can enhance the sensitivity and stability of the sensors, which is of great importance for engineering applications.