Ultra-Sensitive Wearable Pressure Sensor Assembled by Surface Patterned Polyolefin Elastomer Nanofiber Membrane Interpenetrated with Silver Nanowires.

Wearable pressure sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity and flexibility have been tremendously concerned due to their abilities to mimic human somatosensory system and percept surrounding pressure distribution. Herein, an ultrasensitive pressure sensor was fabricated with surface patterned nanofibrous membranes (SPNMs) via facile replica method from available plain-weaved nylon textiles. The SPNMs were composed of internal three-dimensional (3-D) interpenetrating polyolefin elastomer (POE) nanofiber and silver nanowires (Ag NWs). The effects of the geometry of surface patterns and the density of Ag NWs network on the sensing performance of the assembled pressure sensor were systematically investigated. The results indicated that the clavate grooves shaped surface patterns improved the sensitivity and the larger groove spacing contributed to higher sensitivities while the denser Ag NWs would reduce the sensing performance. The optimal pressure sensor assembled with SPNMs-45 and Ag NWs fraction of 3.8% showing high sensitivity (19.4 kPa-1) below the pressure of 2.76 kPa, low detection limit (<1.7 Pa), fast response (30 ms and 42ms) as well as excellent durability. These outstanding performances demonstrated its promising potential for wearable electronic applications, like detecting the spatial pressure distribution and monitoring the human muscle motions.