Development of a composite sandwich-structure piezoresistive pressure sensor for subtle-pressures application

The Design and manufacturing of a noble piezoresistive pressure sensor (PS) for subtle pressures (<1 kPa) were presented. Meanwhile, in the studies conducted in the field of pressure sensors, the measurement of subtle pressures has received less attention. The limitations in the inherent gauge factor in silicon, have led to the development of polymer and composite resistive sensitive elements. However, in the development of resistance sensing elements, the structure of composite elements with reinforcement core has not been used. The proposed PS had a composite sandwich structure consisting of a nanocomposite graphene layer covered by layers of PDMS at the bottom and on the top coupled with a polyimide (PI) core. Various tests were performed to analyze the PS. The primary design target was improved sensitivity, with a finite-element method (FEM) utilized to simulate the stress profile over piezoresistive elements and membrane deflection at various pressures. The PS manufacturing process is based on Laser-engraved graphene (LEG) technology and PDMS casting. Experimental data indicated that the manufactured PS exhibits a sensitivity of 67.28 mV/kPa for a pressure range of 30–300 Pa in ambient temperature.