Facile and Cost-Effective Fabrication of Highly Sensitive, Fast-Response Flexible Humidity Sensors Enabled by Laser-Induced Graphene

Abstract

The need to simplify fabrication processes and reduce costs for high-performance humidity sensors is increasingly vital, especially in fields such as healthcare and agriculture. This study introduces a simple and cost-effective approach using laser-induced graphene (LIG) on a polyimide film to create highly sensitive and fast-response flexible humidity sensors. The LIG acts as the electrode, while the porous polyimide between the interdigital LIG electrodes serves as the humidity sensing material, showing changes in electrical conductivity based on the humidity levels. The LIG humidity sensor, an ionic-conduction type, exhibits remarkable sensitivity, with a 28,231-fold increase in current as relative humidity changes from 26.1 to 90.2%. It also boasts of ultrashort response/recovery times (less than 0.5/7 s), providing significant advantages in detecting rapid and subtle humidity variations compared to a commercially available MEMS humidity sensor. We successfully demonstrated the LIG humidity sensor's capabilities in ultrafast breathing monitoring (≈174 times per minute), moisture detection of grains, and detection of sudden water pipe leakage. Due to its straightforward and cost-effective fabrication process, the LIG humidity sensor holds immense practical value for affordable, widespread use across various applications.