A Sensitivity Enhanced MWCNT/PDMS Tactile Sensor Using Micropillars and Low Energy Ar+ Ion Beam Treatment

Sensors

Syed Azkar Ul Hasan¹  Youngdo Jung¹  Seonggi Kim¹  Cho-Long Jung¹  Sunjong Oh¹  Junhee Kim¹  Hyuneui Lim¹ 

[1] Department of Nature-Inspired Nano Convergence Systems, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon 34103, Korea;

关键词: MWCNT/PDMS;    piezoresistive tactile sensor;    micropillar;    ion beam treatment;    curved pillar;    directional detection;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s16010093

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

High sensitive flexible and wearable devices which can detect delicate touches have attracted considerable attentions from researchers for various promising applications. This research was aimed at enhancing the sensitivity of a MWCNT/PDMS piezoresistive tactile sensor through modification of its surface texture in the form of micropillars on MWCNT/PDMS film and subsequent low energy Ar⁺ ion beam treatment of the micropillars. The introduction of straight micropillars on the MWCNT/PDMS surface increased the sensitivity under gentle touch. Low energy ion beam treatment was performed to induce a stiff layer on the exposed surface of the micropillar structured MWCNT/PDMS film. The low energy ion bombardment stabilized the electrical properties of the MWCNT/PDMS surface and tuned the curvature of micropillars according to the treatment conditions. The straight micropillars which were treated by Ar⁺ ion with an incident angle of 0° demonstrated the enhanced sensitivity under normal pressure and the curved micropillars which were treated with Ar⁺ ion with an incident angle of 60° differentiated the direction of an applied shear pressure. The ion beam treatment on micropillar structured MWCNT/PDMS tactile sensors can thus be applied to reliable sensing under gentle touch with directional discrimination.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.