Cicada-Wing-Inspired Highly Sensitive Tactile Sensors Based on Elastic Carbon Foam with Nanotextured Surfaces
Kangqi Chang, Zhenzhong Wu, Jian Meng, Minhao Guo, Xiu‐Ping Yan, Hai‐Long Qian, Piming Ma, Jianhua Zhao, Fangneng Wang, Yunpeng Huang, Tianxi Liu
Abstract
Electronic devices with tactile and pressure-sensing capabilities are becoming increasingly popular in the automatic industry, human motion/health monitoring, and artificial intelligence applications. Inspired by the natural nanotopography of the cicada wing, we propose here a straightforward strategy to fabricate a highly sensitive tactile sensor through nanotexturing of erected polyaniline (PANI) nanoneedles on a conductive and elastic three-dimensional (3D) carbon skeleton. The robust and compressible carbon networks offer a resilient and conducting matrix to catering complex scenarios; the biomimetic PANI nanoneedles firmly and densely anchored on a 3D carbon skeleton provide intimate electrical contact under subtle deformation. As a result, a piezoresistive tactile sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity (33.52 kPa –1 ), fast response/recovery abilities (97/111 ms), and reproducible sensing performance (2500 cycles) is developed, which is capable of distinguishing motions in a wide pressure range from 4.66 Pa to 60 kPa, detecting spatial pressure distribution, and monitoring various gestures in a wireless manner. These excellent performances demonstrate the great potential of nature-inspired tactile sensors for practical human motion monitoring and artificial intelligence applications.