Fabrication of a sensitive pressure sensor using carbon nanotube micro-yarns

Developing flexible pressure sensors is of high interest in soft skin and tactile sensing applications. Here we demonstrate a simple approach to fabricating a sensitive resistive pressure sensor using carbon nanotube (CNT) micro-yarns as a pressure sensing element which is constructed on a stretchable acrylic elastomer. The sensor showed a high sensitivity of −0.86 Ω/kPa and a fast response time of 100 ms. Different to the longitudinal piezoresistive effect of micro-yarns, the high pressure sensitivity of the sensor was achieved owing to the compressibility of the micro-yarn in the direction perpendicular to the yarn axis. The sensor was also able to monitor finger pressure in real-time, demonstrating its potential for tactile sensing applications.