Stretchable energy-harvesting tactile electronic skin capable of differentiating multiple mechanical stimuli modes

Abstract

The first stretchable energy harvesting e-skin (EHES) that is able to detect, differentiate, and harvest a variety of mechanical stimuli, enabled by the stretchability of the device and a unique device architecture was reported. Using PDMS microstructuring in combination with an air gap, the researchers enabled pressure sensing from several pascals to tens of kilopascals. The device was capable of differentiating different tactile signals by measuring three different output signals (capacitance, resistance of the top and resistance of the bottom electrode). The capacitive design was important since the top and the bottom electrodes needed to be electrically isolated so that the measured change in film resistance was only due to the lateral straining of each film, not due to the electrical conduction between the top and bottom electrodes. Capacitive sensor design also enabled energy-harvesting functionality along with its sensing capability. envision that our energy-harvesting e-skin and the concepts introduced here can be utilized in the future to enable a fully self-sustainable skin-like devices with stretchability, multifunctional tactile sensing, and energy-harvesting capability © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim