Work

Advances in Soft Strain and Pressure Sensors

Year: 2025

Type: review

Abstract: Soft strain and pressure sensors represent a breakthrough in material engineering and nanotechnology, providing accurate and reliable signal detection for applications in health monitoring, sports management, human-machine interface, or soft robotics, when compared to traditional rigid sensors. However, their performance is often compromised by environmental interference and off-axis mechanical deformations, which lead to nonspecific responses, as well as unstable and inaccurate measurements. These challenges can be effectively addressed by enhancing the sensors' specificity, making them responsive only to the desired stimulus while remaining insensitive to unwanted stimuli. This review systematically examines various materials and design strategies for developing strain and pressure sensors with high specificity for target physical signals, such as tactility, pressure distribution, body motions, or artery pulse. This review highlights approaches in materials engineering that impart special properties to the sensors to suppress interference from factors such as temperature, humidity, and liquid contact. Additionally, it details structural designs that improve sensor performance under different types of off-axis mechanical deformations. This review concludes by discussing the ongoing challenges and opportunities for inspiring the future development of highly specific electromechanical sensors.

Source: ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c15134

Authors: Duy Van Nguyen, Pingan Song, Farid Manshaii, John Bell, Jun Chen, Toan Dinh

Institutions: University of Southern Queensland, University of California, Los Angeles

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Australian Government, Department of Environment and Science, Queensland Government

Award: G6356958110