A Soft Sponge Sensor for Multimodal Sensing and Distinguishing of Pressure, Strain, and Temperature

Abstract

Soft wearable sensors are essential components for applications such as motion tracking, humanmachine interface, and soft robots. However, most of the reported sensors are either specifically designed to target an individual stimulus or capable of responding to multiple stimuli (e.g., pressure and strain) but without the necessary selectivity to distinguish those stimuli. Here we report an elastomeric sponge-based sensor that can respond to and distinguish three different kinds of stimuli: pressure, strain, and temperature. The sensor utilizes a porous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponge fabricated from a sugar cube sacrificial template, which was subsequently coated with a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) conductive polymer through a low-cost dip-coating process. Responses to different types of stimuli can be

Revealing the improved sensitivity of PEDOT:PSS/PVA thin films through secondary doping and their strain sensors application

“…This commonly occurred phenomenon for strain sensor is due to the polymer chain disruption within the sensor materials that disturb the electron transfer along PEDOT backbone. 72 The strain also results in the loss of conductive path which causes difficult electron pass, and a crack generation led to electrical breakdown at higher strain. 73 We did run a simple resistivity measurement on 12% EG-PEDOT:PSS/PVA thin films by using finger-touching, to see its potential to be applied as pressure sensors.…”

Biocompatible and breathable healthcare electronics with sensing performances and photothermal antibacterial effect for motion-detecting

“…Benefiting from its porous structure, hydrophilic (Fig. 2j) and elasticity, the sponge provides a good solution for preparing breathable and comfortable sensors [50][51][52][53] .…”

Fabrication Approaches of Soft Electronics

“…In this topic, there is only a limited number of reports, as summarized in Table 4. Specifically, Lo et al 133 (Figure 4a) reported the use of soft foam to make a multimodal sensor for pressure, strain, and temperature. The soft foam was made by soaking a sugar cube in PDMS, and after curing the PDMS, removing the sugar by a simple dissolution.…”

“…(A) Photos and optical micrographs showing the white and brown sugar cubes used as templates and the corresponding PDMS and PEDOT:PSS/PDMS sponges after each fabrication step. Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2022 American Chemical Society.…”