电子皮肤新型材料与性能研究进展

Research progress on new materials and properties of electronic skin

  • 摘要: 电子皮肤作为一种柔性触觉仿生传感器已经广泛地应用于人体生理参数检测与机器人触觉感知等领域。基于金属和半导体材料的传统电子皮肤触觉传感器,由于柔韧性和可穿戴性差,已经难以满足实际使用中对拉伸性、便携性的要求。得益于柔性材料、制造工艺和传感技术的快速发展,近年来聚二甲基硅氧烷、碳纳米管、石墨烯等新材料被用于制备或支撑电子皮肤传感器,使电子皮肤在性能上更趋于人类皮肤。本文分析讨论了电子皮肤新材料以及应用于电子皮肤当中的传感技术,重点总结了近年来电子皮肤在可拉伸/压缩性、生物相容性、生物降解性、自供电性、自修复性、温度敏感性以及多功能集成等方面的研究进展,展望了未来电子皮肤新性能的研究方向以及实现大面积、低成本、多种功能集成电子皮肤传感器阵列的可能途径。

     

    Abstract: Human skin is an extraordinary organ; it comprises an integrated, stretchable network of sensors that transmits information to the brain about tactile and thermal stimuli, enabling us to safely and efficiently operate in our environment. Researchers have become interested in large-scale electronic device networks inspired by human skin, motivated by the prospect of developing devices such as autonomous smart robots and bionic prostheses. Developing electronic networks consist of flexible, stretchable, and robust devices that are compliant with large-scale implementation and integrated with multiple functionalities is a testament to the progress in developing human-skin like electronic bodies. In the fields of human physiological parameter detection and robot tactile perception, electronic skin has been commonly used as a kind of flexible tactile biomimetic sensor. Conventional electronic skin tactile sensors based on metal and semiconductor materials do not meet the requirements for stretchability and portability during actual use because of poor flexibility and wearability. Attributed to the rapid development of flexible materials, and manufacturing and sensing technologies, new materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), carbon nanotubes, and graphene have been used to prepare or support electronic skin sensors in recent years, thus enabling electronic skin to be more similar to human skin in terms of stretchability, compressibility, and spatial resolution of touch, and other properties. Now, multi-functional integrated electronic skin devices have realized interaction with smart devices to obtain further collection and processing of human body information. This study analyzed and discussed new electronic skin materials and sensing technologies used in electronic skin, including capacitive effects, piezoelectric effects, piezoresistive effects, optical effects, and wireless antenna sensing. We focused on the recent research progress in electronic skin in terms of stretch/compressibility, biocompatibility, biodegradability, self-power, self-healing, temperature sensitivity, and multi-functional integration. Moreover, we anticipate the future research directions of new electronic skin properties and possible ways to achieve large-area, low-cost, multi-function integrated electronic skin sensor arrays.

     

/

返回文章
返回