Highly sensitive flexible pressure sensor based on a 1D/2D hybrid aerogel

Wearable pressure sensors with highly sensitive and wide detection ranges are essential for human motion monitoring. In this work, a self-assembled hybrid aerogel was obtained by polyacrylonitrile nanofibers, polyaniline, and reduced graphene oxide. Based on the complementation of 1D and 2D nanomaterials, the aerogel acted like a spring under lower pressure and a membrane under higher pressure, showing great potential in human motion monitoring. According to the wide detection range of the aerogel, an artificial hand was designed to recognize different spatial pressures such as grasping a pen, holding a bottle, and shaking hands. These signal outputs could be precisely reflected by voltage change and further converted to RGB values. Meanwhile, a shoe pad was prepared to monitor foot pressure and the resistance change could be converted to color scale signals. This work provides a new strategy for 1D/2D hybrid nanomaterials-based aerogel with wide pressure ranges in flexible electronics.