A semitransparent snake-like tactile and olfactory bionic sensor with reversibly stretchable properties

• Main Authors: Cai, Guofa, Wang, Jiangxin, Lin, Meng-Fang, Chen, Jingwei, Cui, Mengqi, Qian, Kai, Li, Shaohui, Cui, Peng, Lee, Pooi See
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Physical Chemistry; Soft Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/88774; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/44720
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Many organisms and animals have sensing abilities that are different from those of human beings; for example, snakes have strong smell-, vibration-, touch- and heat-sensing abilities. A nature-mimicking sensing platform capable of sensing multiple stimuli, such as strain, pressure, temperature and other uncorrelated conditions, is highly desirable to broaden the applications of sensors. Here, we construct a semitransparent intelligent skin-like sensing platform based on polyaniline (PANI) nanowire arrays that can act as a bionic component by simultaneously sensing tactile stimuli and detecting colorless, odorless gas. Our multifunctional bionic sensing strategy is remarkably adaptive for versatile applications. The strain-sensing performance is superior to that of most conducting polymer-based sensors reported so far and is comparable to or even better than traditional metal and carbon nanowire/nanotube-based strain sensors. The highest gauge factor demonstrated is 149, making our system a remarkable candidate for strain-sensing applications. The sensor can accurately detect a wide range of human motions. We also demonstrate the simultaneous controlled olfaction ability for the detection of methane with high sensitivity and a fast response time. These results enable the realization of multifunctional and uncorrelated sensing capabilities, which will afford a wide range of applications to augment robotics, treatment, simulated skin, health monitoring and bionic systems.