Development of a Self-Powered and Stretchable Sensor for Wearable Electronics

Various sensors have been researched and developed in the past few decades, including robotics, health care monitoring, and body motion monitoring. However, most of the reported sensors are made in rigid and not stretchable form. Furthermore, a power source is required to activate the sensor for operation. In this work, a self-powered ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) is proposed as the stretchable sensor. The sensor is engraved with a serpentine cut pattern to increase its conformality and sensitivity. Experimental data show that the proposed IPMC sensor's sensitivity is two times greater than that of the conventional one. The proposed sensor can also differentiate the directions of the applied force through the change of the output polarity. These advantages show that the proposed IPMC sensor can be used in the field of healthcare monitoring.