Fabrication strategies that pursue "simplicity" for the production process and "functionality" for a device, in general, are mutually exclusive. Therefore, strategies that are less expensive, less equipment-intensive, and consequently, more accessible to researchers for the realization of omnipresent electronics are required. Here, this study presents a conceptually different approach that utilizes the inartificial design of the surface roughness of paper to realize a capacitive pressure sensor with high performance compared with sensors produced using costly microfabrication processes. This study utilizes a writing activity with a pencil and paper, which enables the construction of a fundamental capacitor that can be used as a flexible capacitive pressure sensor with high pressure sensitivity and short response time and that it can be inexpensively fabricated over large areas. Furthermore, the paper-based pressure sensors are integrated into a fully functional 3D touch-pad device, which is a step toward the realization of omnipresent electronics.
Adhesion control of various liquid droplets on a liquid-repellent surface is a fundamental technique in novel open channel microfluidic systems. Herein, we demonstrate reversible liquid droplet adhesion switching on superamphiphobic Pd-decorated Ag dendrites (Pd/Ag dendrites).Although adhesion between liquids and the superamphiphobic surfaces was extremely low under ambient air, high adhesion was instantly achieved by exposure of the dendrites to 8% hydrogen gas. Transition from low to high adhesion and the reverse case were successfully repeated more than 10 times by switching from atmospheric ambient air to 8% hydrogen gas. This is the first technique that allows real-time reversible adhesion change with various liquid droplets to a surface using gas-induced structural changes and can potentially be used to realize various functions for droplet-based microfluidics.
In article number https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201700368, Taeyoon Lee, and Wooyoung Shim, and co‐workers propose a fundamentally simple method of fabricating capacitor arrays, that can outperform their costly counterparts, manufactured via microfabrication. The capacitor array, made by ubiquitous activity from our daily lives, namely, writing on a paper with a pencil, is used as a pressure sensor, which is further integrated into a fully functional touch device as a principle demonstration of the concept of omnipresent electronics.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.