Self-Powered, Ultrasensitive, Flexible Tactile Sensors Based on Contact Electrification
Open accessAbstract
Tactile/touch sensing is essential in developing human-machine interfacing and electronic skins for areas such as automation, security, and medical care. Here, we report a self-powered triboelectric sensor based on flexible thin-film materials. It relies on contact electrification to generate a voltage signal in response to a physical contact without using an external power supply. Enabled by the unique sensing mechanism and surface modification by polymer-nanowires, the triboelectric sensor shows an exceptional pressure sensitivity of 44 mV/Pa (0.09% Pa(-1)) and a maximum touch sensitivity of 1.1 V/Pa (2.3% Pa(-1)) in the extremely low-pressure region (<0.15 KPa). Through integration of the sensor with a signal-processing circuit, a complete tactile sensing system is further developed. Diverse applications of the system are demonstrated, explicitly indicating a variety of immediate uses in human-electronics interface, automatic control, surveillance, remote operation, and security systems.
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- Authors
- Zhu, G., Yang, W. Q., Zhang, T., Jing, Q., Chen, J., Zhou, Y. S., Bai, P., & Wang, Z. L.
- Affiliations
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
- Corresponding author
- Wang, Zhong Lin
- Venue
- Nano Letters
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2014-05-19
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 3208-3213
- ISSN
- 1530-6984 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-6992
- OpenAlex
- W4230148542
- Cited by
- 464
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 58 · 2017: 55 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 5
- FWCI
- 21.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.osti.gov
- Locations
- Nano Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- SMARTech Repository (Georgia Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanics of Materials › Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions
- Keywords
- triboelectric sensors, self-powered sensing, tactile sensing, triboelectric charging, polymer nanowires, pressure sensitivity, tactile sensitivity, electronic skin, human-machine interaction, signal processing circuit
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Pressure, User-Computer Interface, Nanowires
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