A Soft Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor Based on Porous Conductive CB/PDMS Composite

Abstract

Pressure sensors are essential in precise robotic operations because they can provide force feedback information. In this paper, we propose a soft piezoresistive pressure sensor consisting of a top porous conductive polymer composite (PCPC) layer and a bottom interdigital electrode (IDE) layer, demonstrating a high sensitivity up to 58.60% $\text{kPa}^{-1}$ and a hysteresis error as low as 3.18%. Devices with different pore sizes and IDE geometric parameters are fabricated and experimentally characterized. Results show the dependence of the sensor performance on porosity and IDE configuration, which is consistent with theoretical analysis. The proposed technique enables a customized design of soft piezoresistive pressure sensors for different sensing ranges. As a practical demonstration, the proposed pressure sensor is integrated with a soft robotic gripper to perform delicate manipulation tasks.