A Flexible and Highly Sensitive Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor Based on Micropatterned Films Coated with Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Excellent flexibility, high sensitivity, and low consumption are essential characteristics in flexible microtube pressure sensing occasion, for example, implantable medical devices, industrial pipeline, and microfluidic chip. This paper reports a flexible, highly sensitive, and ultrathin piezoresistive pressure sensor for fluid pressure sensing, whose sensing element is micropatterned films with conductive carbon nanotube layer. The flexible pressure sensor, the thickness of which is 40 ± 10 μ m, could be economically fabricated by using biocompatible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Experimental results show that the flexible pressure sensor has high sensitivity (0.047 kPa −1 in gas sensing and 5.6 × 10 −3 kPa −1 in liquid sensing) and low consumption (<180 μ W), and the sensor could be used to measure the pressure in curved microtubes.