Conical Microstructure Flexible High-Sensitivity Sensing Unit Adopting Chemical Corrosion

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 20; no. 16; p. 4613
• Main Authors: Wang, Yangyang, Deng, Jiangyu, Duan, Junping, Zhang, Binzhen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17-08-2020; MDPI
• Subjects: chemical corrosion; cone microstructure; Corrosion; Electrodes; Flexible components; flexible electronics; Letter; Mechanical devices; Mechanics; Microstructure; motion detection; Polyvinyl alcohol; Pressure distribution; Response time; Sensitivity; Sensors; Simulation; flexible electronics; cone microstructure; chemical corrosion; motion detection
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s20164613

Sensor technology is one of the three pillars of information technology. This paper aims to discuss the problems of insensitive detection, poor stability, and uncomfortable wearing of sensors in the fields of human-computer interaction, 5G communication, and medical detection. A sensing unit with a microstructured flexible sensing front end is a cone-like structure with a single size of 18-22 μm. They are evenly distributed and can reach 2500 units per square millimeter. In the pressure range, the sensitivity of the sensor unit is 0.6 KPa
(no microstructure sensitivity at 0.15 KPa
), and the response time is fast (<600 ms). After 400 repeated stretching experiments, the sensor unit can still maintain a stable output signal. Due to its flexible characteristics (50% tensile conductivity), the sensor unit can act on human skin and other curved surfaces. According to the prepared sensing unit, good test results can be obtained on the testing of mechanical devices, curved surfaces of human bodies, and non-contact methods. It is observed that the flexible sensor can be applied to various test occasions, and the manufacturing process of the sensing unit will provide new ideas and methods for the preparation of the flexible sensor technology.