3D Synergistical MXene/Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogel for a Piezoresistive Sensor

TLDR

A piezoresistive sensor based on ultralight, superelastic MXene/reduced graphene oxide hybrid aerogel is developed to exploit its pressure‑sensitive characteristics. The sensor is fabricated by assembling large rGO nanosheets that wrap MXene to prevent oxidation, forming a porous 3D aerogel that combines high conductivity and large surface area. The resulting MX/rGO aerogel sensor outperforms single‑component materials, delivering 22.56 kPa⁻¹ sensitivity, sub‑200 ms response, stable performance over 10 000 cycles, detection of signals below 10 Pa, and enabling pulse monitoring, pressure‑distribution mapping, and subtle strain detection.

Abstract

A piezoresistive sensor based on ultralight and superelastic aerogel is reported to fabricate MXene/reduced graphene oxide (MX/rGO) hybrid 3D structures and utilize their pressure-sensitive characteristics. The MX/rGO aerogel not only combines the rGO's large specific surface area and the MXene's (Ti3C2 T x) high conductivity but also exhibits rich porous structure, which leads to performance better than that of single-component rGO or MXene in terms of the pressure sensor. The large nanosheets of rGO can prevent the poor oxidization of MXene by wrapping MXene inside the aerogel. More importantly, the piezoresistive sensor based on the MX/rGO aerogel shows extremely high sensitivity (22.56 kPa-1), fast response time (<200 ms), and good stability over 10 000 cycles. The piezoresistive sensor based on the MX/rGO hybrid 3D aerogel can easily capture the signal below 10 Pa, thus clearly testing the pulse of an adult at random. Based on its superior performance, it also demonstrates potential applications in measuring pressure distribution, distinguishing subtle strain, and monitoring healthy activity.