Large-Area, Wearable, Self-Powered Pressure-Temperature Sensor Based on 3D Thermoelectric Spacer Fabric

Abstract

The rapid development of wearable devices puts forward higher requirements for mass-produced integrated smart systems that incorporate multiple electric components, such as energy supplying, multisensing, and communicating. To synchronously realize continuously self-powering, multifunctional sensing, distinguish signals from different stimuli, and productively design and fabricate a large-area sensing array, an all-fabric-based self-powered pressure-temperature-sensing electronic skin (e-skin) was prepared in this study by assembling highly flexible and compressible 3D spacer fabric (SF) and the thermoelectric poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The all-fabric-based e-skin can efficiently and accurately sense the temperature with a detection resolution of 0.1 K and a response time of 1 s, as well as pressure within a wide range of 200 Pa to 200 kPa and a fast response time of 80 ms. The electricity necessary for driving the sensor can be provided by the temperature difference between the body and environment. Notably, independent voltage and current signals can be generated and read out under the simultaneous temperature-pressure stimuli. For the first time, a real waistcoat-like e-skin with electricity-generating and pressure-temperature-sensing functions on the whole area was designed and prepared by a simple and easy to scale-up production method. All of these features make the developed all-fabric self-powered sensor have very promising applications.

Keywords: 3D thermoelectric fabric; multifunctional e-skin; pressure−temperature sensor; self-powered; wearable electronics.