Silk Flocked Flexible Sensor Capable of Wide-Range and Sensitive Pressure Perception

Abstract

In recent years, there have been advancements in high-performance soft sensors with simultaneous moderate sensitivity and wide linearity. However, it remains challenging to combine high-efficiency production and high performance for soft sensors. The skin and hair structure provide an elegantly simple sensing model, where hair acts as signal receptors and basal skin acts as signal processors. Herein, we used efficient electrostatic flocking and extrusion printing to engineer comb-shaped electrodes with conductive polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) flocked with conductive silk fibers as a biomimetic flexible sensor. The mechanical and electrical properties of modified PDMS and silk fibers were characterized to optimize the functionalization process. The sensor unit exhibited a high linear range up to 2,000 kPa and a competitively good sensitivity of 0.0285 kPa^–1 in the contact mode with conductive materials, as well as good resolution in the noncontact mode. Such sensors and a sensor array demonstrated potential applications for detecting pressure disturbances from acoustic activity and for human–robot interactions. We anticipate that the straightforward design and facile fabrication of soft sensors with vertical fibrous morphology for perception will open new avenues for the next generation of high-performance soft sensors integrated with artificial intelligence.