title: A transparent bending-insensitive pressure sensor.
abstract: Measuring small normal pressures is essential to accurately evaluate external stimuli in curvilinear and dynamic surfaces such as natural tissues. Usually, sensitive and spatially accurate pressure sensors are achieved through conformal contact with the surface; however, this also makes them sensitive to mechanical deformation (bending). Indeed, when a soft object is pressed by another soft object, the normal pressure cannot be measured independently from the mechanical stress. Here, we show a pressure sensor that measures only the normal pressure, even under extreme bending conditions. To reduce the bending sensitivity, we use composite nanofibres of carbon nanotubes and graphene. Our simulations show that these fibres change their relative alignment to accommodate bending deformation, thus reducing the strain in individual fibres. Pressure sensitivity is maintained down to a bending radius of 80 μm. To test the suitability of our sensor for soft robotics and medical applications, we fabricated an integrated sensor matrix that is only 2 μm thick. We show real-time (response time of ∼20 ms), large-area, normal pressure monitoring under different, complex bending conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Sungwon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reuveny
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7624-7355
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reeder
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Sunghoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Hanbit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Kevli Institute of Bionano Technology and Science, John A, Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachussetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Qihan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sekitani
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Isoyama
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Kevli Institute of Bionano Technology and Science, John A, Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachussetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Suo
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.|Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Someya
mesh_terms: D001808:Blood Vessels; D004867:Equipment Design; D006108:Graphite; D057139:Nanofibers; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011312:Pressure; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D006108:Graphite
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