A Porous Microstructured Dielectric Layer Based Pressure Sensor for Wearable Applications

A novel porous microstructured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) dielectric layer-based pressure sensor was developed for wearable applications. The porous micros-square structured (PMS-PDMS) dielectric layer was fabricated by using porous PDMS mixture and laser engraved acrylic master mold. The top and bottom electrodes of the pressure sensor were fabricated by screen printing silver (Ag) on a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film, which was attached to a stretchable fabric using heat-lamination process. The PMS dielectric layer was sandwiched between the top and bottom electrodes using thin layer of adhesive PDMS. A relative capacitance change of 5% and 30% with a sensitivity of 4.98% kPa
^-1
and 2.53% kPa
^-1
was obtained for varying applied pressures ranging from 0 to 1 kPa, and 1 to 100 kPa, respectively.