Li Yi, Villada Andres, Lu Shao-Hao, Sun He, Xiao Jianliang, Wang Xueju
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
Department of Mechanical engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Soft Matter. 2023 Aug 2;19(30):5772-5780. doi: 10.1039/d3sm00563a.
Traditional rigid ocean pressure sensors typically require protection from bulky pressure chambers and complex seals to survive the large hydrostatic pressure and harsh ocean environment. Here, we introduce soft, flexible pressure sensors that can eliminate such a need and measure a wide range of hydrostatic pressures (0.1 MPa to 15 MPa) in environments that mimic the ocean, achieving small size, high flexibility, and potentially low power consumption. The sensors are fabricated from lithographically patterned gold thin films (100 nm thick) encapsulated with a soft Parylene C film and tested in a customized pressure vessel under well-controlled pressure and temperature conditions. Using a rectangular pressure sensor as an example, the resistance of the sensor is found to decrease linearly with the increase of the hydrostatic pressure from 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa. Finite element analysis (FEA) reveals the strain distributions in the pressure sensor under hydrostatic pressures of up to 15 MPa. The effect of geometry on sensor performance is also studied, and radially symmetric pressure sensors (like circular and spike-shaped) are shown to have more uniform strain distributions under large hydrostatic pressures and, therefore, have a potentially enhanced pressure measurement range. Pressure sensors of all geometries show high consistency and negligible hysteresis over 15 cyclic tests. In addition, the sensors exhibit excellent flexibility and operate reliably under a hydrostatic pressure of 10 MPa for up to 70 days. The developed soft pressure sensors are promising for integration with many platforms including animal tags, diver equipment, and soft underwater robotics.
传统的刚性海洋压力传感器通常需要置于庞大的压力腔中并采用复杂的密封措施来保护，以便在巨大的静水压力和恶劣的海洋环境中存活。在此，我们介绍一种柔软、灵活的压力传感器，它无需上述保护措施，且能在模拟海洋的环境中测量大范围的静水压力（0.1兆帕至15兆帕），具备体积小、灵活性高以及潜在的低功耗特性。这些传感器由光刻图案化的100纳米厚金薄膜制成，并用柔软的聚对二甲苯C薄膜封装，在定制的压力容器中于精确控制的压力和温度条件下进行测试。以矩形压力传感器为例，发现该传感器的电阻在静水压力从0.1兆帕增加到15兆帕的过程中呈线性下降。有限元分析（FEA）揭示了压力传感器在高达15兆帕静水压力下的应变分布。还研究了几何形状对传感器性能的影响，结果表明径向对称的压力传感器（如圆形和尖峰形）在大静水压力下具有更均匀的应变分布，因此具有潜在的更高压力测量范围。所有几何形状的压力传感器在15次循环测试中均表现出高度一致性和可忽略不计的数据滞后现象。此外，这些传感器还展现出出色的灵活性，在10兆帕的静水压力下能可靠运行长达70天。所开发的软压力传感器有望与包括动物标签、潜水设备和软水下机器人在内的许多平台集成。
