Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Flexible pressure sensors have many potential applications in wearable electronics, robotics, health monitoring, and more. In particular, liquid‐metal‐based sensors are especially promising as they can undergo strains of over 200% without failure. However, current liquid‐metal‐based strain sensors are incapable of resolving small pressure changes in the few kPa range, making them unsuitable for applications such as heart‐rate monitoring, which require a much lower pressure detection resolution. In this paper, a microfluidic tactile diaphragm pressure sensor based on embedded Galinstan microchannels (70 µm width × 70 µm height) capable of resolving sub‐50 Pa changes in pressure with sub‐100 Pa detection limits and a response time of 90 ms is demonstrated. An embedded equivalent Wheatstone bridge circuit makes the most of tangential and radial strain fields, leading to high sensitivities of a 0.0835 kPa−1 change in output voltage. The Wheatstone bridge also provides temperature self‐compensation, allowing for operation in the range of 20–50 °C. As examples of potential applications, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) wristband with an embedded microfluidic diaphragm pressure sensor capable of real‐time pulse monitoring and a PDMS glove with multiple embedded sensors to provide comprehensive tactile feedback of a human hand when touching or holding objects are demonstrated.
Source: Advanced Materials
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2747780986