Flexible Capacitive Tactile Sensor Based on Micropatterned Dielectric Layer

TLDR

Flexible tactile sensors are considered an effective way to realize the sense of touch, enabling synchronized interactions with the surrounding environment. Here, the utilization of bionic microstructures on natural lotus leaves is demonstrated to design and fabricate a new‑type high‑performance flexible capacitive tactile sensor. The sensor is fabricated by patterning electrodes on a lotus‑leaf template and coating them with polystyrene microspheres as the dielectric layer. The resulting device shows high sensitivity (0.815 kPa⁻¹), a wide dynamic range (0–50 N), a fast response (~38 ms), and can detect pressure, bending, and stretching, making it suitable for electronic skins, wearable robotics, and biomedical devices.

Abstract

Flexible tactile sensors are considered as an effective way to realize the sense of touch, which can perform the synchronized interactions with surrounding environment. Here, the utilization of bionic microstructures on natural lotus leaves is demonstrated to design and fabricate new‐type of high‐performance flexible capacitive tactile sensors. Taking advantage of unique surface micropattern of lotus leave as the template for electrodes and using polystyrene microspheres as the dielectric layer, the proposed devices present stable and high sensing performance, such as high sensitivity (0.815 kPa −1 ), wide dynamic response range (from 0 to 50 N), and fast response time (≈38 ms). In addition, the flexible capacitive sensor is not only applicable to pressure (touch of a single hair), but also to bending and stretching forces. The results indicate that the proposed capacitive tactile sensor is a promising candidate for the future applications in electronic skins, wearable robotics, and biomedical devices.