Highly sensitive, reliable and flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors based on graphene-PDMS @ sponge

In the research of flexible pressure sensors supported by three-dimensional skeleton structure, the combination of nanomaterials and skeleton structure is a difficult problem to be further solved. Herein, a piezoresistive sensor based on the graphene-PDMS @ sponge is prepared by fixing graphene on a sponge skeleton using PDMS. The as-prepared piezoresistive sensor exhibits high elasticity (strain up to 85%), high sensitivity (0.075 K Pa⁻¹), a wide responding range (0–50 KPa) and high stability (2000 cycles pressure test). The piezoresistive sensor is used to detect blood pressure, heartbeat and human movements including finger bending, elbow movement and knee squatting, which shows good consistency and stability of the as-prepared sensor through the synergy of sponge, PDMS and graphene. The graphene-PDMS @ sponge sensor shows potential applications in medical testing and electronic skin. (paper)