A New Flexible Pressure Sensor Prepared by Scientists

Recently, the research team of advanced electronic packaging materials led by Wang Zhengping and Sun Rong, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed a new type of flexible pressure sensor. The related achievements are Flexible and Highly Sensitive Pressure Sensor Based on Microdome-Patterned PDMS Forming with Assistance of Colloid Self-Assembly and Replica Tec. Hnique for Wearable Electronics is published online in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 

Flexible pressure sensor is a flexible electronic device used to sense the force on the surface of an object. It can be attached to the surface of various irregular objects. It has broad application prospects in medical health, robotics, biomechanics and other fields. With the development of science and technology, whether the flexible pressure sensor has the functions of flexibility and accurate measurement of pressure distribution information has become the focus of attention. Because the microstructures can not only improve the sensitivity of the sensor, but also restore the elastic deformation of the sensor more quickly and have the ability of fast response. Therefore, the construction of microstructures is an effective way to improve the comprehensive performance of flexible pressure sensors, which has become the focus of attention in academia and industry.

Using self-assembly arrays of polymer colloidal microspheres as templates, the team fabricated flexible substrates with micro-convex arrays by two-step replication. Compared with the traditional lithography method for fabricating microstructured silicon templates, the All-Chemical method adopted in this study does not rely on expensive lithography equipment and complex lithography process. It has the advantages of simple preparation process, low cost, and can adjust the size of micro-bumps on flexible substrates by choosing the particle size of colloidal microspheres. The flexible pressure sensor has the characteristics of high sensitivity, fast response time and good stability, as well as strong sensitivity to low pressure section pressure.

The research work is supported by the national key research and development projects, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Guangdong Key Laboratory of High Density Electronic Packaging Materials, and the Excellent Youth Innovation Fund of Shenzhen Advanced Academy of Chinese Academy of Sciences.