Functional gradient piezoelectric composite nanogenerator for self-powered touch sensor

Abstract

Touch sensors play a pivotal role in the domain of human-machine interfaces. To streamline the complexity of array electrodes, this paper presents a novel functional gradient piezoelectric composite nanogenerator touch sensor by utilizing only a pair of electrodes for touch position detection through voltage measurements. The rheological characteristics of the BaTiO3/PDMS composites were evaluated, and the functional gradient nanogenerator was successfully fabricated by extrusion 3D printing. Finiteelement simulations revealed a significant concentration of stress in the vicinity of thetouch position, which gradually diminished farther away. The output voltagedemonstrated substantial variation across different touch positions, which was validatedby experimental results exhibiting a similar trend. Comparing voltage values enabled thedistinction of touch positions, as confirmed by both simulation and experimental findings.The nanogenerator can realize the function of human-machine interfaces.