High-Performance Flexible Piezoresistive Sensor with Egg-Carton-Like Surface Microstructure for Health Monitoring

Flexible pressure sensors play a crucial role in the advancement of next-generation health-monitoring devices and intelligent human-machine interfaces. Enhancing sensor performance through the integration of engineered microstructures into the active layer has shown great potential. However, traditional methods for fabricating microstructures often face challenges, such as high costs, low throughput, and complex fabrication processes. This study presents a scalable and cost-effective technique that employs a modulated corona field to create egg-carton-like microstructures in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) film, which can be applied in piezoresistive sensors. The piezoresistive pressure sensor utilizing a micropatterned PDMS film demonstrates an exceptional sensitivity of 73.37 kPa-1 within a pressure range of 0-65 kPa. This advanced sensor is capable of monitoring human physiological and motion signals as well as being used in human-machine interfaces. Our findings offer a promising pathway for the development of highly sensitive sensors via modulated corona field techniques, with broad applications in healthcare monitoring and human-machine interaction systems.