Temperature-adaptive flexible pressure sensor based on thiol-ene click chemistry and 3D printing for wearable devices

Thiol-ene click and DLP printing enable tunable 3D porous flexible scaffolds. • In-situ PANI network provides temperature-adaptive pressure sensing response. • Stable performance from 30 to 90 °C and over 10,000 loading-unloading cycles. • Sensor arrays achieve foot-pressure mapping and real-time motion recognition. With the rapid development of flexible wearable electronics for health monitoring, motion recognition, and human-machine interaction, pressure sensors capable of delivering stable outputs under complex environmental conditions are increasingly needed. However, most existing devices suffer from fatigue-induced fracture of conductive networks, irreversible mechanical deformation, and temperature-dependent signal drift, which significantly undermines their reliability. Here, we report a temperature-adaptive flexible pressure sensor fabricated by integrating thiol-ene click chemistry with digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing. A three-dimensional porous elastic scaffold was constructed from a PETMP/PUA/IBOA matrix using NaCl as a sacrificial porogen, followed by the in-situ formation of a dynamically reconfigurable polyaniline (PANI) conductive network. The sensor exhibits stable and predictable pressure responses across 30–90 °C, enabled by temperature-enhanced polymer chain mobility that increases compressive deformation and amplifies resistance variation under the same load—from −3.5% to −29%—thus enabling intrinsic signal self-compensation without additional circuitry. The device maintains highly consistent performance after over 10,000 compression cycles, demonstrating excellent mechanical resilience and electrical durability. Moreover, when configured as an array, it enables real-time visualization of plantar pressure distribution, accurate motion pattern recognition, and detection of thermal tactile differences under identical pressure. This work presents a material-level strategy for achieving coupled temperature-mechanical-electrical self-adaptation and provides a promising platform for high-reliability flexible pressure sensors designed for complex or variable environments. Download: Download high-res image (380KB) Download: Download full-size image