Xiaodong and Juan’s Paper in Advanced Materials!
Paper title: A Potentiometric Electronic Skin for Thermosensation and Mechanosensation
Abstract: Electronic skins (e-skins) that mimic the thermosensation and mechanosensation functionalities of natural skin are highly desired for the emerging fields of prosthetics and robotics. Advances in the materials and architecture of e-skins have been made; nevertheless, sensing mechanism innovations are rarely explored. Here, inspired by the skin sensory behaviors, a single potentiometric sensing scheme for both thermosensation and mechanosensation functionalities are presented. Through careful materials selection, component optimization, and structure configuration, the coupling effect between thermosensation and mechanosensation can be significantly minimized. Such a potentiometric sensing scheme enables one to create a new class of energy-efficient e-skin with distinctive characteristics that are highly analogous to those of natural human skin. The e-skin reported here features ultralow power consumption (at nanowatt level), greatly simplified operation (only voltage output), ultrahigh sensitivity (non-contact sensing capability), all-solution-processing fabrication, and, more importantly, good capability for simultaneous monitoring/mapping of both thermal and mechanical stimulations. In addition to proposing a new sensory mechanism, integration of the dual-functional e-skin with a soft robotic gripper for object manipulation is demonstrated. The presented concise yet efficient sensing scheme for both thermosensation and mechanosensation opens up previously unexplored avenues for the future design of skin prosthetics, humanoid robotics, and wearable electronics.
Publication:
-
A Potentiometric Electronic Skin for Thermosensation and Mechanosensation
Xiaodong Wu,
Juan Zhu,
James W. Evans,
Canhui Lu,
and
Ana C. Arias
Advanced Functional Materials,
2021
31,
17.
[Abstract]
[Bibtex]
[PDF]
Electronic skins (e-skins) that mimic the thermosensation and mechanosensation functionalities of natural skin are highly desired for the emerging fields of prosthetics and robotics. Advances in the materials and architecture of e-skins have been made; nevertheless, sensing mechanism innovations are rarely explored. Here, inspired by the skin sensory behaviors, a single potentiometric sensing scheme for both thermosensation and mechanosensation functionalities are presented. Through careful materials selection, component optimization, and structure configuration, the coupling effect between thermosensation and mechanosensation can be significantly minimized. Such a potentiometric sensing scheme enables one to create a new class of energy-efficient e-skin with distinctive characteristics that are highly analogous to those of natural human skin. The e-skin reported here features ultralow power consumption (at nanowatt level), greatly simplified operation (only voltage output), ultrahigh sensitivity (non-contact sensing capability), all-solution-processing fabrication, and, more importantly, good capability for simultaneous monitoring/mapping of both thermal and mechanical stimulations. In addition to proposing a new sensory mechanism, integration of the dual-functional e-skin with a soft robotic gripper for object manipulation is demonstrated. The presented concise yet efficient sensing scheme for both thermosensation and mechanosensation opens up previously unexplored avenues for the future design of skin prosthetics, humanoid robotics, and wearable electronics.
@article{Xiaodong_eskin,
author = {Wu, Xiaodong and Zhu, Juan and Evans, James W. and Lu, Canhui and Arias, Ana C.},
title = {A Potentiometric Electronic Skin for Thermosensation and Mechanosensation},
year = {2021},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202010824},
publisher = {Wiley Online Library},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adfm.202010824},
journal = {Advanced Functional Materials},
volume = {31},
number = {17},
thumbnail = {xiaodong2021eskin.png},
pdf = {xiaodong2021eskin.pdf}
}
