Flexible and Ultra-Sensitive Planar Supercapacitive Pressure Sensor Based on Porous Ionic Foam

Flexible pressure sensors have broad applications in the fields of electronic skin, human–computer interaction, and health monitoring. It remains a great challenge to develop advanced sensors with mechanical flexibility while gaining high sensitivity, fast response time, and wide detection range. Herein, the design and fabrication of a new type of flexible supercapacitive pressure sensor with a device configuration of planar electrodes incorporated with porous ionic gel is reported. Taking advantage of both the electric double layer capacitance and the micro-structured organogel electrolyte, the developed sensor exhibits ultra-high sensitivity (1126.96 kPa −1 ), wide detection range (300 kPa), fast response time (25 ms), and excellent stability over 6000 compression-release cycles. With consistent and stable performance, the proposed pressure sensor can be used in many applications such as finger pressing, carotid pulse measurement, and finger bending. This work provides a facile and economical approach for fabricating flexible and ultra-sensitive pressure sensors that are promising in wearable electronics.