A Wearable Transient Pressure Sensor Made with MXene Nanosheets for Sensitive Broad-Range Human–Machine Interfacing

TLDR

Flexible, degradable pressure sensors are sought for transient electronic skins, displays, and robotics, but achieving high sensitivity, broad range, fast response, durability, and degradability simultaneously remains a challenge. This work presents a highly sensitive, flexible, degradable pressure sensor built by sandwiching porous MXene‑impregnated tissue paper between biodegradable PLA layers and an interdigitated electrode‑coated PLA sheet. The sensor is constructed by layering porous MXene‑impregnated tissue paper between a biodegradable PLA thin sheet and an interdigitated electrode‑coated PLA thin sheet. The sensor achieves a low detection limit of 10.2 Pa, a broad range up to 30 kPa, an 11 ms response time, 10⁻⁸ W power consumption, 10 000‑cycle reproducibility, and excellent degradability, while enabling health‑status prediction and tactile‑stimulus mapping for personal healthcare, clinical diagnosis, and artificial skin applications.

Abstract

Flexible and degradable pressure sensors have received tremendous attention for potential use in transient electronic skins, flexible displays, and intelligent robotics due to their portability, real-time sensing performance, flexibility, and decreased electronic waste and environmental impact. However, it remains a critical challenge to simultaneously achieve a high sensitivity, broad sensing range (up to 30 kPa), fast response, long-term durability, and robust environmental degradability to achieve full-scale biomonitoring and decreased electronic waste. MXenes, which are two-dimensional layered structures with a large specific surface area and high conductivity, are widely employed in electrochemical energy devices. Here, we present a highly sensitive, flexible, and degradable pressure sensor fabricated by sandwiching porous MXene-impregnated tissue paper between a biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) thin sheet and an interdigitated electrode-coated PLA thin sheet. The flexible pressure sensor exhibits high sensitivity with a low detection limit (10.2 Pa), broad range (up to 30 kPa), fast response (11 ms), low power consumption (10–8 W), great reproducibility over 10 000 cycles, and excellent degradability. It can also be used to predict the potential health status of patients and act as an electronic skin (E-skin) for mapping tactile stimuli, suggesting potential in personal healthcare monitoring, clinical diagnosis, and next-generation artificial skins.