Flexible tactile sensor using the reversible deformation of poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanofiber assemblies.

In this letter, we report a simple approach to fabricating scalable flexible tactile sensors using a nanofiber assembly of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). Uniform P3HT nanofibers are obtained through a continuous electrospinning process using a homogeneous solution of high-molecular-weight P3HT. The P3HT nanofibers are oriented by collecting them on a rotating drum collector. Small physical inputs into the self-standing P3HT nanofiber assemblies give rise to additional contact among neighboring nanofibers, which results in decreased contact resistance in directions orthogonal to the nanofiber orientation. The P3HT nanofiber assemblies could detect pressure changes and bending angles by monitoring the resistance changes, and the sensor responses were repeatable.