Graphene oxide as high-performance dielectric materials for capacitive pressure sensors

Graphene oxide (GO) foam exhibits both excellent elastic property and high relative dielectric permittivity, which is a novel building block for future wearable electronic devices. Herein we present an ultra-sensitive GO-based capacitive pressure sensor with graphene as electrodes by an efficient, low-cost fabrication strategy over large-area integration as well as patterning for recording spatial pressure distribution. The GO-based sensor can detect a subtle pressure of ∼0.24Pa with a fast response time (∼100 m) and a high sensitivity (∼0.8 kPa−1). The superior sensing properties combining with good flexibility and robustness reveal a great application potential in various fields, such as health monitoring, flexible human-computer user interfaces, and robotics, which also give a new insight for all-carbon electronics.

[1]  Jan Meyer,et al.  Design and Modeling of a Textile Pressure Sensor for Sitting Posture Classification , 2010, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[2]  Chao Gao,et al.  Multifunctional, Ultra‐Flyweight, Synergistically Assembled Carbon Aerogels , 2013, Advanced materials.

[3]  R. Ruoff,et al.  Chemical methods for the production of graphenes. , 2009, Nature nanotechnology.

[4]  Yaping Zang,et al.  Flexible suspended gate organic thin-film transistors for ultra-sensitive pressure detection , 2015, Nature Communications.

[5]  Hossam Haick,et al.  Flexible sensors based on nanoparticles. , 2013, ACS nano.

[6]  Benjamin C. K. Tee,et al.  25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E‐Skin): A Brief History, Design Considerations, and Recent Progress , 2013, Advanced materials.

[7]  Youngseok Oh,et al.  Graphene coating makes carbon nanotube aerogels superelastic and resistant to fatigue. , 2012, Nature nanotechnology.

[8]  Hongwei Zhu,et al.  Carbon Nanotube Sponges , 2010, Advanced materials.

[9]  L. Beccai,et al.  Flexible Three‐Axial Force Sensor for Soft and Highly Sensitive Artificial Touch , 2014, Advanced materials.

[10]  Deji Akinwande,et al.  Two-dimensional flexible nanoelectronics , 2014, Nature Communications.

[11]  Jonathan A. Fan,et al.  Materials and Designs for Wireless Epidermal Sensors of Hydration and Strain , 2014 .

[12]  Benjamin C. K. Tee,et al.  Flexible polymer transistors with high pressure sensitivity for application in electronic skin and health monitoring , 2013, Nature Communications.

[13]  Benjamin C. K. Tee,et al.  Highly sensitive flexible pressure sensors with microstructured rubber dielectric layers. , 2010, Nature materials.

[14]  Hyung-Kew Lee,et al.  A Flexible Polymer Tactile Sensor: Fabrication and Modular Expandability for Large Area Deployment , 2006, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[15]  Jun Dai,et al.  Giant Moisture Responsiveness of VS2 Ultrathin Nanosheets for Novel Touchless Positioning Interface , 2012, Advanced materials.

[16]  Takao Someya,et al.  A large-area, flexible pressure sensor matrix with organic field-effect transistors for artificial skin applications. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  Kin Fong Lei,et al.  A flexible PDMS capacitive tactile sensor with adjustable measurement range for plantar pressure measurement , 2014 .

[18]  Elgar Fleisch,et al.  Flexible-foam-based capacitive sensor arrays for object detection at low cost , 2008 .

[19]  Jonghwa Park,et al.  Bioinspired Interlocked and Hierarchical Design of ZnO Nanowire Arrays for Static and Dynamic Pressure‐Sensitive Electronic Skins , 2015 .

[20]  Shuhong Yu,et al.  Scalable template synthesis of resorcinol-formaldehyde/graphene oxide composite aerogels with tunable densities and mechanical properties. , 2015, Angewandte Chemie.

[21]  Benjamin C. K. Tee,et al.  An electrically and mechanically self-healing composite with pressure- and flexion-sensitive properties for electronic skin applications. , 2012, Nature nanotechnology.

[22]  Hee‐Tae Jung,et al.  Fabrication of graphite grids via stencil lithography for highly sensitive motion sensors , 2016 .

[23]  Raeed H. Chowdhury,et al.  Epidermal Electronics , 2011, Science.

[24]  Andrew G. Gillies,et al.  Nanowire active-matrix circuitry for low-voltage macroscale artificial skin. , 2010, Nature materials.

[25]  Qibing Pei,et al.  Elastomeric transparent capacitive sensors based on an interpenetrating composite of silver nanowires and polyurethane , 2013 .

[26]  T. Itoh,et al.  Fabric pressure sensor array fabricated with die-coating and weaving techniques , 2012 .

[27]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Transparent triboelectric nanogenerators and self-powered pressure sensors based on micropatterned plastic films. , 2012, Nano letters.

[28]  W. Park,et al.  A graphene force sensor with pressure-amplifying structure , 2014 .

[29]  Jacek Klinowski,et al.  Structure of Graphite Oxide Revisited , 1998 .

[30]  Vahid Ahmadi,et al.  Fabrication of a graphene-based pressure sensor by utilising field emission behavior of carbon nanotubes , 2016 .

[31]  U. Chung,et al.  Highly Stretchable Resistive Pressure Sensors Using a Conductive Elastomeric Composite on a Micropyramid Array , 2014, Advanced materials.

[32]  Shuhong Yu,et al.  A Flexible and Highly Pressure‐Sensitive Graphene–Polyurethane Sponge Based on Fractured Microstructure Design , 2013, Advanced materials.

[33]  Y. Bonnassieux,et al.  Highly reproducible, hysteresis-free, flexible strain sensors by inkjet printing of carbon nanotubes , 2015 .

[34]  Dongmin Chen,et al.  Synthesis and Solid-State NMR Structural Characterization of 13C-Labeled Graphite Oxide , 2008, Science.

[35]  M. Wolcott Cellular solids: Structure and properties , 1990 .

[36]  Hyojin Jung,et al.  A tactile sensor using a graphene film formed by the reduced graphene oxide flakes and its detection of surface morphology , 2015 .

[37]  Klaus Kern,et al.  Electronic transport properties of individual chemically reduced graphene oxide sheets. , 2007, Nano letters.

[38]  Sung-hoon Ahn,et al.  A flexible and highly sensitive strain-gauge sensor using reversible interlocking of nanofibres. , 2012, Nature materials.

[39]  X. Tao,et al.  Fiber‐Based Wearable Electronics: A Review of Materials, Fabrication, Devices, and Applications , 2014, Advanced materials.

[40]  C. Keplinger,et al.  Flexible ferroelectret field-effect transistor for large-area sensor skins and microphones , 2006 .

[41]  N. Motta,et al.  Graphene-based thin film supercapacitor with graphene oxide as dielectric spacer , 2013 .

[42]  Jaeyoung Jang,et al.  Poly(3-hexylthiophene) wrapped carbon nanotube/poly(dimethylsiloxane) composites for use in finger-sensing piezoresistive pressure sensors , 2011 .

[43]  Tran Thanh Tung,et al.  Enhancing the sensitivity of graphene/polyurethane nanocomposite flexible piezo-resistive pressure sensors with magnetite nano-spacers , 2016 .

[44]  Shuo-Hung Chang,et al.  An integrated flexible temperature and tactile sensing array using PI-copper films ☆ , 2008 .

[45]  B. Shirinzadeh,et al.  A wearable and highly sensitive pressure sensor with ultrathin gold nanowires , 2014, Nature Communications.

[46]  H-S Philip Wong,et al.  Continuous wireless pressure monitoring and mapping with ultra-small passive sensors for health monitoring and critical care , 2014, Nature Communications.

[47]  Ja Hoon Koo,et al.  Conductive Fiber‐Based Ultrasensitive Textile Pressure Sensor for Wearable Electronics , 2015, Advanced materials.

[48]  Andre K. Geim,et al.  Electric Field Effect in Atomically Thin Carbon Films , 2004, Science.

[49]  R. Ruoff,et al.  Highly enhanced performance of spongy graphene as an oil sorbent , 2014 .

[50]  R. Dauskardt,et al.  An ultra-sensitive resistive pressure sensor based on hollow-sphere microstructure induced elasticity in conducting polymer film , 2014, Nature Communications.

[51]  R. Ruoff,et al.  Spongy Graphene as a Highly Efficient and Recyclable Sorbent for Oils and Organic Solvents , 2012 .

[52]  Hossam Haick,et al.  Self‐Healing, Fully Functional, and Multiparametric Flexible Sensing Platform , 2016, Advanced materials.

[53]  Xiaodong Chen,et al.  Skin‐Inspired Haptic Memory Arrays with an Electrically Reconfigurable Architecture , 2016, Advanced materials.

[54]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Dual functional transparent film for proximity and pressure sensing , 2014, Nano Research.

[55]  J. E. Mark Polymer Data Handbook , 2009 .

[56]  Andre K. Geim,et al.  The rise of graphene. , 2007, Nature materials.

[57]  Hossam Haick,et al.  High‐Resolution Unpixelated Smart Patches with Antiparallel Thickness Gradients of Nanoparticles , 2015, Advanced materials.

[58]  M. Shimojo,et al.  A tactile sensor sheet using pressure conductive rubber with electrical-wires stitched method , 2004, IEEE Sensors Journal.