Body-Integrated Ultrasensitive All-Textile Pressure Sensors for Skin-Inspired Artificial Sensory Systems

Abstract

Tactile sensing plays a vital role in human somatosensory perception as it provides essential touch information necessary for interacting with the environment and accomplishing daily tasks. The progress in textile electronics has opened up opportunities for developing intelligent wearable devices that enable somatosensory perception and interaction. Herein, a skin-inspired all-textile pressure sensor (ATP) is presented that emulates the sensing and interaction functions of human skin, offering wearability, comfort, and breathability. The ATP demonstrates impressive features, including ultrahigh sensitivity (1.46 × 10⁶ kPa⁻¹), fast response time (1 ms), excellent stability and durability (over 2000 compression-release cycles), a low detection limit of 10 Pa, and remarkable breathability (93.2%). The multipixel array of ATPs has been proven to facilitate static and dynamic mapping of spatial pressure, as well as pressure trajectory monitoring functions. Moreover, by integrating ATP with oscillation circuits, external force stimuli can be directly encoded into digital frequency pulses that resemble human physiological signals. The frequency of output pulses increases with the applied pressure. Consequently, an ATP-based artificial sensory system is constructed for intelligent tactile perception. This work provides a simple and versatile strategy for practical applications of wearable electronics in the fields of robotics, sports science, and human–machine interfaces technologies.