Research Article www.acsami.org
Transparent Flexible Multifunctional Nanostructured Architectures for Non-optical Readout, Proximity, and Pressure Sensing Mohit Rameshchandra Kulkarni,† Rohit Abraham John,† Mayank Rajput,‡ Naveen Tiwari,† Natalia Yantara,‡ Anh Chien Nguyen,† and Nripan Mathews*,†,‡ †
School of Materials Science and Engineering and ‡Energy Research Institute@NTU (ERI@N), Nanyang Technological University, 637553 Singapore S Supporting Information *
ABSTRACT: Electronic skins need to be versatile and able to detect multiple inputs beyond simple pressure and touch while having attributes of transparency and facile manufacturability. Herein, we demonstrate a versatile nanostructured transparent sensor capable of detecting wide range of pressures and proximity as well as novel nonoptical detection of printed patterns. The architecture and fabrication processes are straightforward and show robustness to repeated cycling and testing. The sensor displays good sensitivity and stability from 30 Pa to 5 kPa without the use of microstructuration and is conformal and sensitive to be utilized as a wrist-based heartrate monitor. Highly sensitive proximity detection is shown from a distance of 9 cm. Finally, a unique nonoptical pattern recognition dependent on the difference in the dielectric constant between ink and paper is also demonstrated, indicating the multifunctionality of this simple architecture. KEYWORDS: capacitive sensor, transparent pressure sensor, nonoptical readout, multifunctional sensor, proximity sensing
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INTRODUCTION The human skin is a versatile organ with multifunctional capabilities of pressure sensing (
