2025/11/01 by Xingfa Gao, Rixuan Wang, Yuzhen Huang +3 · 1 voice
Engineering · Materials Science · #Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials #Conducting polymers and applications #Dielectric materials and actuators
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/eom2.70037
openalex publication_date 2025/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/11/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/31
ABSTRACT Flexible pressure sensors hold transformative potential in personalized healthcare and motion‐aware electronics. However, constrained by a single conduction mechanism, current sensors still face significant challenges in simultaneously achieving high sensitivity, wide range, and robust stability. Herein, a gradient doping hierarchical microstructure flexible piezoresistive sensor with multi‐path conduction mechanisms is developed. The synergistic combination of micro‐engineered surfaces and spatially graded doping enables significant resistance variation at low pressures, yielding a high sensitivity of 101.1 kPa −1 . Multi‐path conduction mechanisms (including surface resistance, interlayer electrode resistance, interlayer contact resistance, interlayer tunneling resistance, and bulk resistance) enable tunable resistivity under high loads, extending the sensing range from 0.32 Pa to 3.6 MPa (a span of seven orders of magnitude). Moreover, the integrated full‐carbon nanotubes/polydimethylsiloxane design shows high stability, durability (over 5000 cycles), and fast response/recovery time (10/58 ms). As a proof of concept, the sensor's application for broad‐range biomechanical monitoring has been validated, spanning from subtle pulse waveform detection to high‐intensity plantar pressure monitoring. This work advances next‐generation wearables for simultaneous high‐fidelity physiological tracking and extreme‐force kinematic analysis.